Visions Of The Moon
by Capt.Hazard
Summary: T.J. is one of the members of the La Push wolf pack. While they think he is just like them truth is he's far from it. What is his big secret? What role does he play in their futures. Read on and find out. I do not own Twilight or it's characters, Stephanie Meyer does. I own the character of Thomas and any other characters I create.
1. Old Beginnings

It's been a few weeks since the fight with newborns. Even though I knew the outcome beforehand, it still hurts me to see my cousin Jacob in pain. I guess before I continue I should introduce myself. My name is Thomas James Nakoa Matthews, but you can call me TJ. I'm eight teen years old and I am a member of the La Push wolf pack.

Ever since I can remember, I could predict things before they could happen. I guess the proper term for what I am is "seer", and the proper term for what I see is "visions". Sometimes I would have very intense dreams and other times it happens when I'm wide awake. Two things I've noticed about these visions:

They are so clear and vivid it feels like I'm actually there.

Since the future is not set in stone, some things can be changed. Unless someone or something intervenes, the outcome remains the same.

One Prime example is when I was four. I had trouble sleeping that night. I kept tossing and turning because I was having a nightmare. I saw a blue pickup truck swerve out of control and roll on its side. I looked into the broken windshield and saw my fathers face. His face was slashed because of the shattered glass and his breathing was labored. His eyes went wide and his breathing became quicker. I heard a loud screeching noise behind me but before I could look I woke up.

I opened my eyes and my vision was a little blurry. I guess through out the dream I had been crying. I looked to my left and my dad was holding me and to my right my mom was rubbing my back. Dad looked at me and said "You had us scared there buddy. We heard you yelling and screaming but don't worry nobodies going to hurt you" I threw my arms around his neck and said

"I won't get hurt but you will". Mom gasped and dad gently pulled me off to say

"What makes you say that?"

"I saw it in my dream"

He glanced over at mom then turned to me and said

"Will you tell me what you saw?"

I nodded and said "I saw your truck going out of control and you were hurt pretty bad"…..

"Was there anything else?"

"I saw your face all scratched up and I heard a loud noise ".

He looked at my mom and not long after I did as well. When I saw her tears were rolling down her face. "Mommy are you hurt?" she shook her head and said "No sweetie I just don't like seeing you so upset". I crawled out of my dads lap and hugged my mom. "Don't worry mom I'm fine. It's just a dream right?" She paused for a moment and said "Yes of course it is". Dad scooted closer and held us both. He said "How about your mother and I stay with you till you fall asleep, and then in the morning we'll make you some waffles? Does that sound good?" I nodded and went back to lie down. Mom and dad were on the side of my bed getting ready to tuck me in. My mom sang one summer night and my dad brushed my hair out of my face. He whispered "See you in the morning buddy" and I said "Don't start without me". He responded with "ok" and smiled at me. When I went back to sleep they quietly left the room.

SHARON POV

I woke up at 2:30 to the screams of my son Thomas. My husband Jason and I quickly got out of bed and ran to his room. While I was rubbing his back Jason picked him up and said "You had us scared there buddy. We heard you yelling and screaming but don't worry nobodies going to hurt you." My son threw his arm around his father and said "I won't get hurt but you will." I gasped because he's never been one to say such things, especially to his father. My husband asked him why he would say that and my son's response was "I saw it in my dream." As soon as he said that I felt a shiver down my spine.

Jason looked over at me then back to Thomas and asked him what he saw. While he described it, I remembered the conversation I had with Jason the previous morning, about the same dream. I woke up with night sweats and I was panting. Jason sat up and asked me what was wrong. I told him I had a dream. Not just any dream, the ones that usually come true. He asked me what happened and I described the dream in detail.

"Are you sure?" he asked. I nodded. "It felt like the other dreams I had." He paused

and said "Like with your sister? the wedding? your pregnancy?" I nodded.

The first time I felt something like that, was about six years ago. I had a dream about my sister. In the dream, my sister was holding a pink bundle. A week later she found out she was pregnant and sure enough, she had a little girl. I told Jason about it and we both thought it was just a coincidence. The next year, I had a dream two days before our wedding. I had a dream that Jason was panicking because the best man, couldn't find the ring. I told Jason that morning, and he said it would be fine. The ceremony was twenty minutes behind and Jason said I was right. The following year I had a dream of me looking in the mirror holding my swollen stomach. I told Jason and he joked "Well let's hope your three for three."

About three weeks later, I found out I was pregnant. I gave birth to our son Thomas at forks hospital on January 26 1992. I was very stressed out at first but Jason and his mother Katherine helped calm me down. The doctor that delivered him, weighed him and declared that he was perfectly healthy. Jason and I both looked at him and felt like a all was right in the world. I nursed him when he got a little fussy, and he was very content after that.

While I remembered all this tears were rolling down my face, and both he Jason were looking at me with concerned eyes. Thomas asked me if I was hurt and I told him I just didn't like seeing him like this. While that wasn't a complete lie, it wasn't the whole truth. I was upset that he had the same dream, and I was upset that I was going to lose my husband. He crawled over to me and said he was ok. I lied to him when he asked me if it was just a dream. Jason came over and offered to stay with him and make waffles in the morning.

He went to lie down while Jason tucked him in. I started to sing One Summer Night by the Danleers. His grandmother had gotten a CD called Essential 60's and this was one of his favorites. Jason moved hair out his face and told him he would see him in the morning. Thomas told him not to start without him, something Jason always told me whenever I would do something with Thomas. I smiled at that and even though I couldn't see his face I'm sure Jason was too. As soon as Thomas drifted to sleep Jason and I quietly left the room.

JASON POV

After we left our sons room, we headed back to ours. Before I could even open the door my wife started sobbing. I held her gently moved her into the room. I guided her to the bed and we both sat at the foot of it. I let her cry until she couldn't cry anymore. "What are we going to do without you? What am I going to do without you?" she asked. "I don't know babe what can we do?" was my response.

"We have to do something!" she said "We can't lose you…I can't lose you."

"It's going to happen whether we like it or not….I think we may need to start planning"

"Planning what?" she asked.

"I don't know maybe you should go live with my mom at La Push. I said "She'll have more than enough space for you and Thomas."

"Do you think she'll let us stay though? I wouldn't want to impose"

"Of course she will, we'll just have tell her everything though"

"Everything? including Thomas?" she asked

"Yes babe she knows about your other dreams, and she should know about this one as well" I said

She nodded and started crying again. "I can't believe he had the same dream." she said "I was hoping he wouldn't have these dreams but ..." her voice trailed and she started sobbing again. "Don't worry babe you-

"Don't worry?" she said as she cut me off "What do you mean don't worry? of course I'm worried! she said " Babe please calm down your'e-

"Calm down?" she cut me off again. "what the fuck do you mean calm down? I can't be calm!" she nearly shouted that time. "Me and Thomas are going to lose you. I can't even begin to tell you how shit my life will be without you."

"Babe please-

"No don't you babe me right now. how can you be so content on not being in my life or watching Thomas grow up?"she said "Answer me Jason, how can you be so content?"

"Content? You think I'm content?" She gasped as I raised my voice. "You want the truth? No I'm not content...I'm not content on losing you or Thomas." By now tears started welling up in my eyes.

"The idea of not seeing in the morning to start my day, or seeing you before I go to sleep to end it... just sickens me". Tears started rolling down my cheeks. "Of course I wanted to watch Thomas grow up...see him have his first crush...see him graduate...see him start a family...hell I was going to tell some of the Quilute legends my mom told me...I would have shared something with him that is supposed to be passed down from father to son"...

I put my head in my hands and started sobbing. I put my hands through my hair and said " I never wanted to be like my dad...I never wanted to leave my wife...my son... oh god." At this point Sharon threw her arms around me and I did the same. "Oh babe" she said "I'm sorry I didn't mean to upset-

I cut her off "You didn't do anything wrong. Like I said we just have to deal with what is." We were silent for a few minutes and I said "Look babe, let's get a little bit of sleep, and in the morning we both call in sick and when we go to visit my mom we'll tell her about it, ok?" she nodded. "I love you Sharon". "I love you Jason" I gave her a firm but quick kiss on the lips and I held her while she tried to go to sleep.

While she fell asleep I was still wide awake. I put my face into her hair and inhaled deeply. I just couldn't believe that sooner or later, I would never be near her or my son again.


	2. Saying Goodbye and Hello

KATHERINE POV

I got an early start as usual, but today I was really excited. MY son Jason and his wife Sharon both worked today and I couldn't wait to spend a whole day with my grandbaby TJ. The phone rang, I picked it up and it was Jason. "Mom?" he said "Yes dear?" "We're going to be a little late this morning."

"Is everything alright?"

"Yes and no. Mom I'll explain when we get there see you in a bit ok?"

"Oh ok see you in a bit."

"Bye mom"

"Bye"

Well that was strange I thought to myself. I've never had a conversation like that with Jason. I guess I'll just have to wait and see what happens.

JASON POV

God, I thought, why did I just say that? I should've just said we were gonna be late and left it at that. How could I be so stupid?

"Babe?"

"Yean?"

"What did your mom say?"

"She's gonna wait for us...she asked if everything was ok, and I was dumb enough to say yes _and_ no."

"Well to be fair it is both" I raised one of my eye brows and said "you lost me there Share, would you care to elaborate on that?"

"What I mean is, we have time prepare" she said. "We have time to do as much as we can together before..." at this point she started crying.

"Oh babe" I said as I wrapped my arms around her "please don't do this now, not in front of Thomas."

"But-

"No buts. Do you remember what I said? we have to deal with what is ok?" I said as I cut her off . "We need to be strong, we need to be in control for as long as possible."

"I can't be that strong. I can't."

"Yes you can Sharon. You are more than capable of being strong."

"I can't do this alone."

"You won't be alone, you'll have two people who love and adore you." I said as I wiped away her tears.

"Mommy? Daddy?" Thomas called from the kitchen before coming into the living room.

"What is it buddy?"

"I'm done with breakfast, can we go see grandma now?"

"Ok go get your things we'll be right here waiting."

"ok." He stopped to look at Sharon and said " Mommy are you crying?"

She shook her head and said "No I was yawning sweetie."

"Oh ok, I'll be back!"

"Ok" I said I turned back to Sharon and said "Nice cover."

She smiled and said "why thank you" and leaned into kiss me.

Not one second later, Thomas came back in and declared what we were doing was "gross."

"Ew, gross couldn't you do that in your room?"

"What's wrong with here?" I asked.

"I'm in it too, and you said this room is for ALL of us. And if one of us doesn't like something in it, we can say if we don't like it. Remember?" Damn I forgot how good his memory had gotten. I wanted to be very stern with him, tell him that he shouldn't be such a smart alec, but I had to laugh at that.

"Yeah, you got me there" I said. Sharon was trying very hard not to laugh at this point. "Do you have your things ready sweetheart?" she asked.

"Yes"

"Ok let's get in the car"

"How long will it be before we get there?" he asked.

"Depends on the traffic buddy," I started to say "If there's little traffic, we can be in La Push in about 20 minutes. If there's a lot, it might be a little while longer than that."

"Ok"

"Ok then let's go"

Luckily for us the traffic wasn't that bad so we got there in 15 minutes. And even luckier, mom's house is very close to the entrance of the reservation. When we got there, I carried Thomas to the house. I did so he could say hi to his grandmother before I asked him to go into the room she set up for him. After we both knocked on the door, mom flew it open and yanked Thomas out of my hands.

"TJ!" she said "How are you my sweet?"

"I'm good"

I gave mom a kiss and asked Thomas to go to his room. Well I started to anyway.

"Thomas-

"TJ"

"Huh?"

Grandma calls me TJ here"

"Oh ok TJ , could you go to your room for a second, me and mom need to talk to grandma."

"Grown up talk?" he asked.

"Yes grown up talk"

Mom set him down and he headed towards his room.

"We'll come get you soon, ok?"

"Ok"

"So what do you want to talk about?"

" I think we better sit down for this."

THOMAS POV

I knew what kind of talk my parents were having. They were going to tell grandma about my dream. I was kind of mad at my parents for not being honest with me, but I guess they were just trying to keep me calm. Besides I was thinking about the other dream I had after that one.

It started with me running through the woods of La Push but I felt stronger and faster. I started getting flashes of things like two small wolves with big paws running and two bigger wolves chasing after them. I started hearing two different voices saying "wait" and "stop". The two smaller wolves just laughed at them and kept running. I wasn't hearing or seeing them with my eyes and ears but with my mind. As I was running, a voice said

_Hey, you._

_Me?_ I thought back.

_Yeah you, unless this reddish wolf with white spots is someone else, I'm pretty sure I'm talking to you. _He showed me well, me as a wolf.

_Whoa_ I thought

_Cool huh? anyway_ _slow down will ya? we have to talk to you._

_Why? _

_We just want to make sure your ok...oh and to make sure you don't end up across the Canadian border._

_Um ok._

I slowed down and entered a clearing. Not to long after that three wolves came out the woods. The one in the middle had black fur, the one to his left had chocolate brown fur, and the one on his right had reddish brown fur.

_Hi, m__y name is Sam, Sam Uley_. Said the wolf with the black fur.

_This is Quil Atera_ he said gesturing to the wolf with chocolate brown fur and _this is Jacob black_ he gesturing towards the reddish brown wolf.

_What's your name?_ asked Quil. It was him I was talking to earlier.

_Thomas, Thomas James Nakoa Matthews. But you can call me TJ if you like._

_Well T J, you're pretty fuckin' fast man I'll give you that._ He snickered and so did I. He started showing me him practically eating my dust. Sam shot him a look.

_Sorry Sam had to get that out of the way before you hogged this entire conversation._

_Anyway, _said Sam. _Welcome to the pack TJ. Welcome to your new family._

And I woke up after that. I tried drawing that shot of the three of them in the clearing. I wanted to show it my parents and grandma. I'm not really good at drawing but I think I got it close enough. I wrote their names above them so I could tell them who they were. Now I just have to wait until they come and get me.

SHARON POV

"Is that all" asked Katherine.

"That's pretty much it ma" said Jason

Katherine put he head in her hands and started sobbing. We just explained to the dream Thomas and I had to her. My eyes started welling up but I tried as best as I could to hold them back. After a minute or so she looked up at me and asked

"Are you sure Sharon?"

"Yes Katherine I'm sure. It felt just like the other dreams I had."

"And TJ had the exact dream?" Me and Jason Both nodded.

"That's why you made him leave the room" She said it as a statement instead of a question.

"Yes mom. He was pretty upset about it"

"Do you know when it will happen?"

"No. The longest We had to wait to see if Sharon was right was three weeks."

"The shortest?"

"Two days."

"What are you going to do?"

"Well I got about two weeks of vacation days saved up, so does Sharon. Were going to use them and spend as much time together as humanly possible. Is it ok if we stay here?"

"Of course this your home too."

And mom?"

"Yes?"

"When this happens...you know after I'm gone...could... Sharon and TJ...stay here" Jason said as his voice began to break.

Katherine got up from her chair and threw her arms around Jason. It was then we all started to cry.

"You don't need to ask me Jace, I help them move after... it happens."

"Thank you Katherine" I said.

"Don't thank me hon, you're family, and family members always look out for each other."

After taking a few moments to compose ourselves Jason got of the couch and headed for TJ's room.

"I better go get him. He must be getting bored in there" he said. And with that he left the room.

JASON POV

I knocked on TJ's door then slowly opened it.

"Hey buddy you ok?"

"Uh huh"

"What are you doing?"

"Drawing my pack brothers"

"Your what?"

"My pack brothers" he lifted up a picture of three wolves "See."

"Oh a wolf pack"

"Yeah"

"I don't get it though you said they were your brothers?"

"Yeah because they will be my new family"

"What gave you that idea?"

"I saw it in a dream"

"When did you have this dream?"

"After...the one about you."

I was beyond shocked at this point. I asked him to describe this dream. He went on about hearing and seeing things in his head, and him being a wolf. I honestly thought it was just a regular dream until he mentioned the name's of the three wolves.

"This is Sam Uley," He said pointing to the middle one "That's Quil Ateara" he said pointing the one on the right, "and that's Jacob Black." My eyes went wide at this point.

"Would you like to show grandma and mommy?"

"Yes please"

I picked him up and we headed to the living. I sat him down next to me and asked him to tell mom and Sharon what he just told me. After he did my mom looked a little shocked and Sharon didn't really get it.

"Buddy I'm going to ask you something" I said. "It's ok if you don't want to answer it but, did it feel like the other dream? did it feel real?"

"Yes"

"Mom have you taken him to meet any of the other kids on the rez"

"No"

"Did you mention any of them to him?"

"No"

"what's wrong Jace?" asked Sharon.

"Do you remember the legends I told you about? more specifically the one about the wolves?

"A little"

"Well each of those boys are descendants of Ephraim Black, Levi Uley, and Quil Ateara the second" I said "They could turn into wolves share"

Her eyes went wide and she grabbed TJ. "My baby is gonna turn ito a wolf?"

"It looks like it"

"Well why couldn't you turn ito one? and how can he turn into one?"

"Well the wolf gene is only triggered if there is a threat nearby, something that can harm people here on the rez. And as far as him getting that gene, well Levi Uley is my grandfather remember?"

"But he's just a boy"

"I know, he'll change when he's a little older"

"As far as where he got the gene, Levi isn't the only candidate"

"What do you mean mom?"

"Do you remember what I told you about your father?"

"Yeah, you said he left because he wanted nothing to do with me or you. What does that have to do with anything?"

"Yes, Justin Matthews left because he wanted nothing to do with us. Not because he couldn't handle be a father, it was because he wasn't your real father."

"What...what are you talking about?"

She went on to explain that she met Justin at Washington state back in the early 70's. They dated for a bit but they got into a really big fight and when he went back home for the holiday's, so did my mom. While she was here, she got reacquainted with William Black Sr., an old friend of hers. She said they used to be really close, she said they watched their grandfathers turn into wolves once. They were just catching up for most of the break. Towards the end of it, he told her his marriage was on the rocks and he just needed a breather. She said she needed one to and offered to take him to a bar. They both got drunk and ended up sleeping together.

They both agreed not to speak of this to anyone, or to pursue anything with this. They both agreed that it was just a breather between old friends and nothing more. Not to long after that, when my mom went back to school she found out she was pregnant. She tried to quickly patch things up with Justin even going so far as to sleep with him. A few days later, she told him she was pregnant. She said she only did this because she thought it was the safest thing to do for both her and William.

Justin and her dropped out of school and got married. When she gave birth, the nurse asked them who was the father. Justin said he was but mom absentmindedly said it was William. Justin asked why she would say that when he thought it was his. She said she didn't mean to lie about it but Justin wouldn't hear any of it. she said his exact words were

"You are nothing more than a lying tramp! I hope you and your bastard rot in hell!" and he left after that.

"Why didn't you tell me this before?" I asked.

"I just thought it would be easier this way. I thought it would keep you from asking questions, and it did. Everyone else thought he was your father and what I said was the truth. Just not the whole truth"

"So all this time, the man I've had nothing but contempt doesn't even deserve it?"

"Well no-

"You mean all those times I thought he left because of me were misplaced thoughts!" I started fuming at her now.

"You mean I grew up without a father because you couldn't keep your fucking legs crossed!"

Sharon and mom both let out a gasp.

"Are you only telling me this because I'm about to die? is that it? you want this off your conscience or something?"

"Jace please-

"Don't even bother "I said as I headed towards the front door. I opened it and said "You know what mom? Justin was right you are a lying tramp, I hope you rot in hell!" I slammed the door behind me and went for my car.

Thomas came running out of the house calling for me "Daddy wait!"

"Thomas get back in the house and stay with your mother"

"But-

"I swear to god Thomas get your ass back in the house now!." I yelled at him for the first time when I said that.

He started crying and ran back in. I got in the car and started heading for forks. I was punching it just so I could off the rez. After about five minutes I started to cool down alittle but I was still pissed. I was about to head to the main road when Honda civic swerved in and out of my lane. I swerved to dodge it and I did. But I started losing control of the truck and it rolled on to it's side. The second it did that the windshieled shattered and glass flew in to my face. I was having trouble breathing and I was having trouble moving. Not long after that a truck transporting wood was heading straight for me.

In those last few seconds I thought about my family. What I just said to mom and Thomas. How they're gonna remember me as an asshole for what I did. I couldn't say it but if I could I would have apologized to the both. I would have say goodbye properly. The truck tried to stop but it was to late. My eyes went wide and then everything went black.


	3. A Funeral And Alittle Bit Of Tedium

T.J. POV

I ran out of the house to try and stop my dad from leaving. I knew he was mad at grandma, but I had to try.I was trying to tell him the accident was going to happen now. It flashed right before my eyes while he was yelling at grandma. It was mostly the same except now I saw how it started. A white car kept swereving in and out of both lanes. My dad tried to avoid it and he did, but he started losing control and the rest is history.

"Daddy wait!" I said

"Thomas get back in the house and stay with your mother"

"But-

"I swear to god Thomas get your ass back in the house now!."

I started crying when he said that. That was the first time my dad ever yelled at me. I ran back into the house. I ran past my mom and grandma and headed straight for my room. I jumped on my bed I started sobbing.

My mother came into the room and tried to comfort me.

"Don't worry sweetheart, daddy just needs to gather his thoughts. He'll be back." It took every fiber of my being not to say anything. I wanted to tell her that he wasn't but what could I say? I could barely explain it to myself, explaining it to mom was going to be hard.

SHARON POV

It's been 45 minutes since Jason left. I was really hoping nothing happened I mean it couldn't right? If we look at my track record we should be fine. T.J. still hasn't come out of his room. I thought the poor thing was asleep, but when I checked his room he was still crying. Not to long after that there was a knock at the door. I didn't understand why Jace was knocking. I mean, it wasn't our house but his mom didn't mind him walking in. The only times he did knock was when he brought T.J. and that was because he wanted to teach him good manners.

I went to go open the door and thought it was Jace, but there were two police officers at the door. I was really hoping they had the wrong house because I didn't want it to have anything to do with my husband.

"Are you Sharon Matthews?" said the first officer. I nodded.

"I'm Deputy Caine and this is Deputy Swan" he said pointing to the other officer who I recognized from a party Billy Black threw at his house awhile ago.

"Charlie? is that you?"

"Hey Sharon. Didn't think you'd remember me"

"What's all this about?"

"Well Sharon it's about Jason, there's been an accident." After that everything went silent. I didn't hear anything else that they said. I didn't even hear Katherine come into the room. I felt...hollow like a big piece of me was missing. Before I knew it was the day before his funeral. I have no idea how I got through all these weeks but I guess I was on auto pilot. I looked in the mirror and my eyes were bloodshot, with bags under them. I looked and felt like shit, and before I knew it I started crying again. I was surprised I had anything left.

There was a knock at my door. I opened it and T.J. came into the room.

"Mommy?"

"yes?"

"I'm...sorry." I was a bit taken aback when he said that.

"For what sweetheart?"

"for...not saving daddy" my eyes started welling up as soon as he said that. I picked him up and sat him on the bed.

"This is not your fault, it's no ones fault."

"It is my fault...I couldn't stop him from leaving and now he's...gone" he started sobbing.

I held him for the next half hour before he fell asleep. I placed him on the bed and left the room. I wanted to find Katherine, it feels like I haven't seen her in ages. I went down the hall into the living room. She wasn't there but I could hear some clattering in the kitchen so I headed there. Sure enough, she was standing there getting ready to make dinner. Dinner. Huh I didn't realize I was in there this whole time.

"um Katherine?"

Sigh "I told you Sharon, you can call me mom" she said with a sad smile.

"Well, mom?"

"Yes Sharon?"

"Thank you...for everything. I mean it...thank you"

"Sharon don't thank me. I told you before we're family, and we'll get through this together"

" I know but... I can't believe he's gone" I put my head in my hands and started shaking.

She crossed the room and wrapped her arms around me. I could feel her tears falling down on my shirt.

"I know" she said " I miss him too, but we need to be strong Sharon."

"I know"

We stayed like that for at least fifteen minutes. She let go and went back to cooking. I headed back to the room to go lie next to T.J.

KATHERINE POV

The funeral was a very diffucult to sit through. I never had to much trouble with funerals. But I honestly never thought I would attend one for my son. This shouldn't be happening, if anything it should be the reverse. I should be in his place, he should be here with his family. This is my fault, if I didn't tell him the truth he would still be here.

Alot of Jason's friends came to pay their respects. My grand nephew Sam and his mother Allison came as well. After we got condolences from everyone, we all headed to first beach for the repast. T.J. was sitting with Sharon on some logs and watching the wave crash.

"Hey guys"

Sharon was the only one to respond.

"Hey"

"T.J., do you want to go meet the other kids?" he shook his head no.

"Are you sure? they don't bite and you can meet your cousin Sam."

I looked at Sharon with eyes that basically meant I was begging for her help. She let out a sigh before saying

"T.J. I think that could be good for you, we'll be living here on the reservation and it wouldn't hurt for you to have people your own age to play with."

"But what if they don't like me?"

"Well sweetheart, you won't know until you try. Besides grandma and I will be right here if you need us ok?"

"Maybe later."

"Why are you so scared honey?" I asked.

"I'm not it's just...I'm supposed to meet Sam later."

Me and Sharon both looked at him like he had purple hair.

"What do you mean later?" Sharon asked.

"I'm supposed to meet them when I'm a wolf remember?"

I forgot he had that dream. Part of me is proud that he will become a protector of our people. But I'm also afraid of losing him. One loss was enough in this family, we don't need another.

"Sweetheart, you can't avoid them forever, everyone here pretty much knows eachother, theres no way around it."

"It won't be forever grandma just till I'm older."

"Are you afraid that you won't change if you meet him now?" he shrugged.

"I don't know, it just doesn't feel right if I meet them now. Don't worry I'll make friends, but not now."

After that we just let him be. I'm sure he would've been fine if he did talk to the boys now, but I didn't want to push. I just hope that when he does change, he stays safe.

T.J. POV

It's been a few months since my dads funeral. Mom enrolled me in school here on the rez. I've been begging her and grandma to homeschool me. They said no time and time again. I kept telling them that it wasn't fair because I would know what we were supposed to do beforehand. I even tried failling a few assignments just out of some form protest. But they told me if I didn't pass, I would get held back. I don't hate school it's just so...pointless.

As far as friends go I did make one, her name is Kim. She's kinda pretty but a little too obsessed with Jared Cameron if you ask me. She would always talk to him but he always ignored her. I wanted to tell her to let it it go but then I had one of those "day dreams" I get from time to time. In it, Jared and Kim looked a little older but they also looked a little weird. I don't know how to describe it but, when she moved so did he. And they looked at eachother with lovey dovey eyes. It was kinda gross but whatever, if their then their happy.

I kept getting more dreams about various members of the pack like Sam, Embry,Leah etc. I felt really bad about how Leah and her brother Seth changed. I know what it's like to lose a parent but I can tell Leah may never forgive herself for that. I was mad at Sam for hurting her but after seeing him explain imprinting, I saw that he doesn't really have a choice. Seeing the way he looks at Emily is the same way Jared looks at Kim. I guess that explains that whole lovey dovey look, still a bit much if you ask me.

I also had a few dreams about a girl named Bella Swan. She seemed so out of place in Washington. She seemed liked she didn't want to be here. Well, until she met some dude named Edward. I'm pretty sure he's not a wolf but they have the same look in their eyes. That...intensity that you would get with imprinting. Speaking of eyes, this Edward has some very strange eyes. His whole family does actually. I've seen them go from black to gold. For the most part, they seem very nice except for the one called Rosalie. Don't know what her problem is, but I'll be sure to keep my distance.

I didn't see them being a problem. Even after Bella decided to "investigate" them if you want to call it that. She tried practically everything, she even asked Jacob, although I'm pretty sure he wasn't allowed to. How are ancestors are descendants of the the wolf. He told her about the treaty that our ancestors made with "theirs". Basically, some pretty major secrets. After she did more of her research she found out the Cullens are actually...vampires. Well Edward kinda told but not after giving her a warning to let things go. He showed her that he was practically a killing machine but she didn't care.

Now I understand this whole protect our land from a threat business. But to be honest with you, they don't seem like a threat. They're different...no scratch that they are different. Like us, they value human life as well. I've seen our people give them a less than stellar attitude, but they have never done anything to violate what we laid down for them. And they never will.

I've been writing most of my dreams down so I can keep track and narrow them down. Haven't had too much luck with a good chunk of them, but I have narrowed down when I'll change. When Sam changes, he looks no older than 18 years old. I'm a year younger than he is so 17 seems to be the earliest with 18 being the latest. And to be perfectly honest I can't wait to be a wolf.


	4. The Wait Is Over

T.J. POV

Well here I am 17 years old about to turn 18 and I haven't phased...yet. Apparently that's what it's called, phasing. I guess this gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "going through a phase". I know lame joke but you gotta admit it was alittle funny. Anyway, for the past couple of years, I've been getting a bit more insight on the wolves and the vampires. I think it's kinda funny how so many people think Sam started a cult. If they knew the truth, they'd probably shit their pants. Honestly horse sized wolves? how much fun is that?

On the vampire end, well it's a little more grim. A while back, I had a vision about three nomads coming into the area to have "fun." They picked off a few humans during this time. All the humans thought it was some kind of animal, but the Cullens knew better. Hell they even took out the sadistic one called James after he tried to kill Bella. Speaking of Bella, I really need to talk to this girl, figure out what her deal is. I mean either she has the worst luck ever or she's a monster magnet. Add the fact that she's clumsey as hell and well...it amazes me that she's still amongst the living.

Anyway, as for the other two, Laurent met his end at the hands, or in this case paws of my brothers. Then there's Victoria, the red head on a mission to get rid of Bella. This vendetta started after the Cullens got rid of her mate. To her, this is an eye for an eye situation. Because of her, alot of people started phasing. As far as I'm concerned her ass needs to go.

Other Vampires in the loop include the Volturi and their Guard. There's Aro, Caius, and Marcus or the big three as I like to call them. To be honest, they're a little creepy. They're so pale that they would give Casper a run for his money. Aro is just the personification of creep, Caius is an arrogant and vicious bastard, and Marcus...well he kinda looks like he doesn't want to be there. The guard consits of Alec, his sister Jane, Demetri, and Felix. The only ones that give me cause for concern and the last three I mentioned. Jane is psychotic in every sense of the word. No one can out run Demitri and while Felix doesn't have a gift, he's still pretty imposing.

The only reason they got involved was because Edward wanted them to kill him. They refused, citing that they needed a reason to do it, i.e. he needs to expose their world. He would've succeeded if Alice and Bella didn't stop him. That became another problem because Aro wanted to meet her. Despite protest from Caius, Aro let them go because Alice showed him one of her visions where Bella became a vampire. He told them to make preperations and let them know when it would happen. Edward saw Aro thinking about making him and Alice join the guard. He wants Edward but Alice is someone he wants the most. He says he wants her gift and he saw Aro thinking vividly about her and Edward in black cloaks with red eyes.

After that the family decided to have a vote. All of them voted for Bella to be changed except Rosalie. Not that surprising considering her attitude towards Bella, but her reasoning did throw me for a loop. She said she never chose this life and wishes she had someone to say no for her. Now that I think about it none of them chose to be a vampire. I think Bella might be the first person to ever choose this life. Again, a conversation with this girl is a must.

The pack's not taking this too well either, especially Jake. He and Bella got really close after the Cullens left, but her heart doesn't belong to him. I've seen it, she chooses Edward in the end. Sam's kinda pissed with her, because he thought she would have just as much cause to hate the Cullens as he does. Paul is...well he's Paul doesn't take much to piss him off. Jared's almost always busy sucking face with Kim when's he's not, he's kissing Sam's ass. Quil and Embry are neither here nor there on this subject. As long as the Cullens stick to their land and abide by the treaty, they really don't care. Leah's just mad at the Sam half the time and just takes it out on us. And she directly blames the Cullens for her phasing, even though they weren't aware of the effect they had on our people. Seth doesn't mind being a wolf or hanging out with vampires and neither will I. Hell he and Edward become good friends.

I've been growing a little impatient with not phasing yet. For the better half of 4 years I've been focusing hard on how to tune everything and everyone out. I don't want anyone knowing my secret just yet. Besides it's not so easy to fill your head with mindless chatter as it is to just think naturally. But I was getting better at it and I wanted so desperatley to try it out. I tried to force it by going to meet Carlisle at the hospital. I "fell" down a flight of stairs and dislocated my shoulder. Mom took me to the hospital and lucky me Carlilse was the one to patch me up. I was a little pissed when nothing happened, but it just reinforces my belief that he and his family are not dangerous. On the drive home, mom asked me how I fell I told her I threw myself down the stairs. Let's just say she wasn't too happy with that.

"Why the hell did you do that Thomas? You could've died!"

"I was trying to phase. I was trying to force it."

"Why? and how?"

"I'm just tired of waiting mom. I should be out there already, a lot of people have gotten hurt and I'm tired of sitting on the side lines."

"I don't see how you could've done that by getting hurt."

I was dreading telling her this. She knows that there are other forces at work besides the wolves, but I didn't know how to tell her there are vampires. I sure as hell didn't want to tell her that she works with one. But she wanted to know about this life, so I guess I don't have a choice.

"Do you remember the story about the cold ones?" She nodded

"Well, that story is about...vampires." the look she gave was funny, but I held back my laughter.

"How long have you known?"

"About?" I asked.

"About the sky being blue. what do you think? I was talking about vampires" Over the years, my mom has devolped...a habit of sorts. When she was mad she was mad, but when she was concerned or annoyed she would get sarcastic. I was having difficulty trying to keep a straight face, but this is serious so I have to keep my cool.

"Well, since I was about 12"

"And you thought you didn't need to tell me about this? about the pe...things you need to kill?"

"Don't be like that mom. Some vampires have no regard for human life, I've seen it. But there are those who do value human life and make sure that no one gets hurt."

She snorted "Sure, next your going to tell me up is down and left is right." and she started to chuckle lightly.

I was getting a little irritated with her and I was still hesitant to tell her the rest. But I really needed to make this point.

"Mom please, I know it's hard to take in but they do exist. Hell they don't even feed on humans, they feed on animals."

"Really?" she said with geniune intrest.

"Yes. I'm going to fight along side them and..."

"And?"

"Part of it's going to be awsome"

"But?"

"But someone's going to get hurt. Before you start freaking out it's not me."

"Who is it?"

"Jacob"

"Black?" I nodded.

"How bad?"

"Pretty bad. Good thing one of the vampires is a doctor or..." That's when I realized my mistake. I was supposed to take this slow but she pulled to the side of the road and looked at me with concerned eyes.

"Did you say doctor? do they work at the hospital? tell me Thomas I need to know!"

"Yes mom, one of them is a doctor."

"It's someone on the night shift isn't? they can't come out into the sun right? they'll blow up or something. Wait what am I saying this is forks there's hardly any sun at all! it's the perfect place for them to thrive." I started laughing uncontrollably, I didn't mean to but watching my mom get worked up was funny as hell.

"This is not funny Thomas! we have to warn as many-

I threw up my good hand to stop her.

"No we can't tell anyone about this mom."

"Why the hell not?"

"Well_ A_, this life is supposed to remain secret, and _B_ if you go around telling people about giant wolves and vampires...well they'll have you commited" I said with a snort.

"But-

"No mom we can't. Besides mom I have a good feeling about all of this"

"If you say so." The rest of the ride was silent. When we got home, I decided not to tell about Carlisle just yet. She just found about vampires, I was going to let her process that first. I was kinda scared that she would flip out more if she found out. I mean my mom is not a violent person but she would throw a fit. Her heart would be in the right place of course, but she tends to jump conclusions without knowing everything.

When we got into the living room, mom brought me out of my thoughts by saying

"You look so much like him."

"Like who?" I asked.

"Your father."

I looked in the mirror and she was right, I had his nose, cheek bones, jaw line. But the two biggest differences are my green eyes and wavy hair. I get those from my mother. I thought it was odd she would just mention my dad after the talk we had.

"What brought that on?" I asked

"what brought what on?" she asked

"What brought on this talk of dad, especially after talking about...well you know."

"Before you got hurt I wanted to show you something. Come with me." She lead me out back to the shed and took out a key to unlock the padlock. I was never allowed in there when I was younger and as I got older, I only went in there if my grandma asked me too. I was kinda nervous about what she might show me, but when we got in she pulled a tarp off of something. It was a black 850 cc Norton Comando motorcycle. It looked like it was in great shape but something told that this was here for awhile.

Mom must have noticed that I was looking and said

"It was your dad's"

"Really?" I asked a little shocked.

"Yeah. He got it after he turned 18 and I used to ride it with him." she said with a warm smile.

"How come it's in here?"

"Well, don't take this the wrong way but it's in here because of you." she snorted.

I cocked my head to the side and said "Say what now?"

She laughed "What I mean is, after I found out I was pregnant, he decided to get something a little more practical. He wanted to sell the bike but I convinced him to keep it. I told him that it would make a great gift for our kids."

She went quiet for a bit I guess thinking about him not only brought up good memories, but reminded her that she felt lonely. I walked over to her and threw my good arm around her shoulder. Her head was rested on my shoulders.

"I miss him" she said.

"Me too ma. Me too." We stayed like that for about 5 minutes before she said

"Ok enough of that let's get down to business." she said with a smile "It's yours but don't think your going to ride it just yet. I want you to get your motorcycle liscense, I want you to have a steady job, and you won't be riding it until _way_ after your arm is healed. Got it?"

"Got it."

"Well consider it an earlier graduation present...you are graduating right? I mean this wolf business is not going to affect your studies is it?"

"Yes mom I am actually I might end up graduating early. I spoke to a few of my teachers and I got lots of credit so I can graduate at the end of this semester if I want."

"Ok well that one less thing to worry about I suppose."

"Don't worry mom it will all work out. Look I'll apply for a job at Dowlings, I'll work in the office or something."

"I don't know about that T.J. Mr. Dowling is not going to just hire anyone to work in the office or to work for him in general."

"Not to sound like an ass mom but have you seen his office staff? If their not fumbling around their losing important files. And if they're not doing that, they're just sitting on their asses. The mechanics seem to be the only ones who know how to do their jobs yet they get treated like dogs."

"Well you got a point there but I'm still a bit iffy about it."

"Don't worry mom I'll work my magic." I said with a smile. After I graduated at the end of the semester I did. Just like mom said, Dowling was hesitant at first but I told him that it would be a trial basis. I mess up once and I'm out. But I didn't, infact I revamed the entire office system and the delivery system.

I offered to do the books once citing that I had a love for numbers. He didn't mind but he said I needed to speak to the one who was in charge of accounting; Chester Banks. I met Chester one morning and he didn't give me a chance. I believe his exact words were 'I don't need a little brat like you screwing with _my_ business. Now fuck of and die' I was tempted to rip his throat out but that would've done more harm than good. I was actually interested in why he felt so threatened by my pressence.

I spoke to Mr. Dowling about it and he said that was out of character for Chester, and he would look into it. Over the next few days with Dowling looking into it, Chester's behavior became a little more erattic. I had a vision of him and some blonde playing tonsil hockey in his office. Only I'm pretty sure that she wasn't his wife. The next day Dowling caught the two of them and he said that he would investigate these two. If he found anything more incriminating he would drop both of their asses. After a week of "investigation" he found out that Chester was skimming off a little bit from the earnings. It was enough to not get noticed but there was still money that was missing. Dowling personally threw Chester out on his ass and told him to never come back. He walked over to me and asked me to take his spot and to fix the problem. Didn't take to long too get all of his books squared after that. Banks didn't do much damage but if he kept up with it, things would've been worse.

Everything was smooth sailing for awhile. It was the middle of April. I started to get a bit snappy but I guess I'm close to phasing. My suspicions were confirmed when Jacob would look over at me as if he were waiting. He's been that way since he saw me a few weeks ago. It was a slow day today so boss man said we could head out early. On my way out I saw that asshat Banks waiting outside. When he saw me he just glared at me. I tried to avoid him like the plauge until he started yelling.

"Matthews!"

"Yes Banks, how may I help you on this fine afternoon?" I said sarcastically. He made his way over to me as anger took over his features.

"What gives you the right to ruin my life huh asshole?" I started chuckling when he said that. He had to be joking but when I looked at him he got even more pissed.

"So let me get this straight...you fuck the office slut behind your wife's back, get caught stealing from your employer, and it's all my fault? Are you fucking kidding me?" I started shaking at this point.

He pulled his right arm back and threw a punch. Well he tried to at least, I caught his hand and twisted his arm. I twisted it so hard and fast I felt and heard his forearm snap. He fell to the ground and started screaming.

"I'll get you for this Matthews! Your ass is mine!"

I didn't say anything because I couldn't stop shaking at this point. I felt this intense heat in the pit of my stomach. I started to walk over to him until I felt someone grab my shoulder. I turned around and it was Jacob. He leant forward and whispered

"I'll deal with him. You should go to the forest...now" There was a hint of anger in his voice but it wasn't aimed at me. I started heading towards the forest. I could hear Banks calling after me but Jacob silenced him.

"Can it asshat. That could of gone a lot worse for you be glad that it didn't. And don't bother trying to go the legal route, because any judge with half a brain would never take your shady ass seriously. So leave before I call the cops."

Despite being angry I had to smile at that. Me and Jake both thought Banks was, for lack of a better word an asshat. I ran deeper into the forest and let the heat take over. Next thing I know I was on all fours running as if there was no tomorrow. Today is April 15 and today would be burned into my memory. Today my life went through a rebirth of sorts. Today I became apart of something bigger than myself. Today I became a wolf.


	5. Today Was A Good Day

T.J. POV

Freedom. Absolute freedom. This is the best high I've ever had in my life. Running through these wooded areas is hands down the best thing to ever happen. And just like my vision I saw those others running through the forrest. It was funny seeing the boys, Collin and Brady I think is their names, run from Embry and Seth. My thoughts were interupted by another voice

_Hey, you._

_Me?_ I thought back.

_Yeah you, unless this reddish wolf with white spots is someone else, I'm pretty sure I'm talking to you. _He showed me well, me as a wolf.

_Whoa_ I thought

_Cool huh? anyway_ _slow down will ya? we have to talk to you._

_Why? _

_We just want to make sure your ok...oh and to make sure you don't end up across the Canadian border._

_Um ok._

I slowed down and entered a clearing. Not to long after that three wolves came out the woods. The one in the middle had black fur, the one to his left had chocolate brown fur, and the one on his right had reddish brown fur.

_Hi, m__y name is Sam, Sam Uley_. Said the wolf with the black fur.

_This is Quil Atera_ he said gesturing to the wolf with chocolate brown fur and _this is Jacob black_ he gesturing towards the reddish brown wolf.

_What's your name?_ asked Quil. It was him I was talking to earlier.

_Thomas, Thomas James Nakoa Matthews. But you can call me TJ if you like._

_Well TJ, you're pretty fuckin' fast man I'll give you that._ He snickered and so did I. He started showing me him practically eating my dust. Sam shot him a look.

_Sorry Sam had to get that out of the way before you hogged this entire conversation._

_Anyway, _said Sam. _Welcome to the pack TJ. Welcome to your new family._

_Thanks. _I looked over at Jacob _Hey Jake that dumbass didn't give you any trouble did he?_

_Nah he pissed himself when you broke his arm and shit himself when I showed up._ He said with a wolfy grin.

He showed me Banks on the ground screaming with a wet spot on his pants. I laughed at that scene.

_Ya know, I thought I smelled something funny _I thought _What did he say when you told him not to take this legal?_

_Banks said he would find some way around it._

_He better not or I'll break his other arm._

_Haha I want front row seats to that. _Said Quil.

_No you won't. No one is doing anything. _Sam said dashing Quil's hopes.

_I was just playing Sam I won't touch him. Unless he tracks me down and tries to start something then I can't promise anything._

_What was it about? _Asked Quil.

_Nothing really, he was blaming me for him getting fired two, I repeat **two**, months ago. I'll admit I may have played a small part in it but I never had it in for him._

_What did he do?_ This time it was Sam who asked the question.

_Well for starters, he got caught banging the secretary. Dowling isn't entirley against office romances but he doesn't like it while we're on the clock. He wanted to tell Banks' wife but he left that for the dumbass to take care of. He said he would keep a close eye on them. After a week Dowling found out that Banks' was stealing from him and the old man threw him out on his ass._

I played back the scene of Dowling holding Banks by the collar of his shirt. The old man was pissed. He literally threw him 6 feet away from where he was standing. Watching all of this brought a smile to my face.

_Wow who know the old man had it in him?_ said Quil. I just shrugged.

_I don't see how you played apart in this._ Said Jake.

_Well, I kinda revamped the old system that the old man had and asked if I could take a look at the books. I've always been pretty good with numbers, and the old man was impressed with what I did, I figure I'd offer to do some other revamping. He didn't mind but told me I had to talk to Banks. But let's just say he wasn't exactly welcoming._

I replayed my encounter with him and the guys were alittle pissed.

_Jeeze what a dick._ Said Quil.

_I'm surprised you didn't rip his throat out._ Said jake.

_Trust me I was tempted. Like I said it wasn't my fault that he couldn't keep his dick in his pants, or his hands out the cookie jar. But I will admit if I didn't mention it all of this wouldn't have happened._

_Still doesn't mean he needed to act like that. Two months go by and now he wants to act stupid? As far as I'm concerned, you breaking his arm wasn't really that much. _I was kinda surprised that Sam said that. But he was as irritated as I was with Banks. Same with Jake and Quil. Gotta love the pack mind. Quil's questioned brought me out of my thoughts.

_T.J?_

_Yes Quil?_

_I hate to bring this up but you said your last name was Matthews right?_

_Yeah. Why what's up?_

_Well, the last time I checked, there wasn't any Matthews in any of the bloodlines. So I'm kinda wondering if you're related to anyone of us._

_You're related to me right?_ asked Sam.

_Yeah. My grandma is a Uley, her brother is your grandpa. We're cousins._ Jake chimed in this time.

_How come you never told us he was your cousin Sam?_

_Well I didn't think he would phase. I didn't want to bother him with anything so I let him be._

_I saw you guys when I was little though. And I saw some of you through out the years._

_Why didn't you say hi? _asked Quil

_Well at the time I wasn't really into making friends. My dad passed away and I just wanted to be there for my mom and my grandma. After awhile I had a small group of friends but Kim was my best friend. She would always go after Jared though._

I replyed some of the memories I had when Kim would pine over Jared. They chuckled a little at the thoughts. Jake was the first to speak.

_So even back then she liked him._

_Yeah I wanted to tell her to let it go. But I figured she would grow out of it so I didn't say anything. Then we went to highschool and Bam! he started noticing her._

_Trust me you have no idea how much he noticed her._

_What do you mean? _

_That's a conversation for later right now we'll help you phase back. Then you'll come back to my place with the others and you can meet the rest of the guys._ Said Sam.

_Shoots_

_Shoots?_

_Oh sorry I meant sure. See I'm part Hawaiian and over there they speak a form of broken english called pidgin. You say it like you were talkin about that specific bird but you spell it P I D G I N. Shoots is what you would say in place sure or ok. I guess I've been hanging out with my uncles too much._

_I see well let's get started. It might take awhile and you're going to be tired and hungry. But we got that covered._

_Ok let's get this show on the road._

It didn't take that long it barely took twenty minutes. I would've been finshed sooner because I saw how I could control it, but they would have asked too many questions. Even with the time I finished in I could see some questions brewing in their heads. How is he so calm? How is he in control? When can I eat? Ok that last one was from me but dammit I was hungry. I ripped my clothes the first time I phased, so Sam told me to just run back to his place as a wolf and he would get me some shorts. I was waiting out side of his house and he came through the back with a pair of shorts.

"I think these will work." He started "They're elastic so you shouldn't have a problem."

I took the shorts in my mouth and went into woods. Thank god there is alot of forrest around La Push otherwise we would all go to jail for indecent exposure. I slipped the shorts on and made my way back to the house. Sam was in the same spot waiting for me. There was this smell of freshly cut grass but I ignored it.

"You ok?"

"Yeah"

"You sure? Don't be afraid to tell me or anyone else. If something is bothering you, don't feel like you can't talk to one of us."

"I'm fine cos, but if I need to talk I'll let you know."

"Ok _cos" _he grinned when he said that. "Come on let's meet everyone."

With that we made our way into the house. Most of the boys were in the kitchen eating chilli with cornbread. Some were in the living room watching some TV. Before I could take another step I was hit with this wet dog smell followed by all different types of smells. Burnt rubber, a box of chocolate, leather, watermelon bubble gum, an ocean breeze with a bitter edge, peppermint, blueberries, crayons, a lingering smell of redwood from the forrest, bananas and peaches. Sam must have noticed I stopped because he came over.

"What's wrong?"

"This might sound funny but do you own a dog or is that wet dog smell coming from us?"

"No I don't own a dog and what wet dog smell?"

"Well when I stepped onto the porch I got hit with this wet dog smell but now I can smell many different things"

"Like what?"

"Well for instance this freshly cut grass smell." I sniffed the air "It's coming from you."

"Me?" He put his head down to sniff himself. "You're right. It's faint but it's there. What else do you smell?"

"How bout I show you?"

I made my way inside with Sam right behind me. A good chunk of the boys were there looking at us expectantly. They probably heard what I said outside.

"So" one of the boys started "I'm Embry, and what do I smell like?" he said offering his hand to me.

I snorted "Thomas, but you can call me T.J." I shook his hand and I sniffed around him "You smell like leather."

"Really?"

"Yeah"

"I wonder why?"

"Maybe it's because of all the kinky shit you do." Said Quil.

"Whatever you cradle robber." Embry said with a smirk. Quil just shook his head.

"At least I didn't fuck the school slut. Who knows what you caught." he turned to me and held out his hand. "Hey T.J."

I shook his hand. "Hey Quil."

"So..."

"So?"

"What do I smell like?"

"Jeeze is everyone going to ask me that?"

"Maybe" he said with a grin.

I sighed and sniffed around him. "You smell like crayons."

"You sure?"

"Yes"

"And that is because you hang around a kid too much." said Embry.

"At least I do something positive instead of trying to become positive." All the guys let out an ohh. If you didn't know Embry and Quil were really close, you would swear they hated eachothers guts. I was still sniffing around. That redwood smell was fading but it was still here.

"Did somone leave the house?" I asked

"Yeah Jake did. Why?" Jared was the one who spoke.

"I can smell him. It's fading but it's still here."

"What is it?"

"Redwood from the forrest."

"You sure that you're not smelling the forrest?" Asked Paul.

"No. The forrest smells more natural than this. This has a human twang to it."

"Well what do I smell like?" I sniffed around him and grimaced.

"Burnt rubber."

The other guys laughed but Paul looked...well irritated.

"I do not." he said through gritted teeth.

"Hate to break it to you, but yes you do."

"What possible explanation could you apply to me smelling like that. _If_ I smell like that."

"I don't know, the fact that you have a nasty ass temper?" Embry chimed in.

"I do not!"

"Then why are you getting so worked up?" I asked. Paul gave me one of those death stares. If looks could kill I would've been six feet under by now. He started trembling so he was gonna phase soon. I didn't want to fight him right now. Not because I was scared but because my gift would've kicked in and shown me where he was going to attack. If I fought him in my wolf form, he would have seen it and started blabbing to the others. I noticed his scent started to smell alot more harsh.

"Jeeze dude calm down you're starting to reek."

"Shut up!" he lunged at me but the others held him back and took him outside. Sure enough he phased and Sam told him to run it off. I hung my head for a second before someone spoke.

"Quite an impression you made." I looked up and saw Sam's imprint Emily. She smells like peaches.

"I guess so. Is he always like that?" Dumb question I know but I have to play dumb for a bit.

"Yeah, he always had a bad temper but it got worse when he went wolf" She paused for a second before she offered her hand. "I'm Emily, Sam's fiance." I shook it and and said

"I'm T.J. Sam's cousin."

"Really? he never mentioned you."

"He didn't think I was going to change. I guess he didn't want me around in case I started asking questions. I mean, have you heard the things other people have said?" She nodded.

"Like him being the leader of a satanic cult?" She said with a giggle. I chuckled.

"Yeah that was a good one. Another was when people thought he was apart of a secret dance troupe."

"They thought we were a dance troupe?" Embry said as he came back in.

"Yeah some people were willing to buy tickets if you would put on a show."

"Well I can't dance...not vertically at least." He said beaming.

"Embry! there is a child in the next room." Emily said through chuckles.

"As if she knows what I'm talking about. Besides she doesn't have super hearing. Hell I bet she didn't hear what me and Quil said before."

"Yeah but we do and we don't wanna hear it." Jared chimed in.

"Well stop thinking about sucking face with Kim and I'll ease up."

"You're practically asking for the impossible!" Quil quipped.

"Can I ask you guys something?" I said.

"You just did" Jared quipped with a smile.

I rolled my eyes and said "How do you guys not know what you smell like? Surely you could smell each other before."

"Well yeah but we were never had a specific smell placed to the individual before. Not the ones you mentioned atleast." Sam said as he came back in. "What did you mean when you told Paul that he started to reek?"

I shrugged.

"I don't know the angrier he got the worse he smelled." They all had blank expressions on their faces.

"Are you telling me that none of you guys could smell it?"

"No we couldn't T.J. but I have a theory about that."

"Hit me."

"I think you might have a special abilty." If I didn't know what Jared, Seth, and Leah were capable of I would've flipped my shit.

"What makes you say that?"

"Well Jared has heightened vision when he's in his wolf form, Seth can hear over great distances, and Leah is the fastest wolf among us."

"So I can-" I stopped when I smelled Jacob approaching.

"What is it T.J.?"

"Jake's here."

"No he's not." Said Embry.

"Not yet."

"What are you Psychic?" If he only knew how true that statement was.

"I can smell him coming." Sure enough Jake came through the woods in human form.

"Damn if your this good when you're human you'll be awesome as a wolf."

Jake popped in about four seconds later with a grin on his face. He walked over to me with his hand out.

"Hey T.J." I took his hand and shook it.

"Hey Jake."

"So...what do I smell like?" His grin became even bigger.

"Oh for the love of all that is holy...you smell like redwood from the forrest."

He cocked his head to the side and said "Are you sure you're not smelling the forrest?"

"Did you run into Paul?"

"I have no idea what you mean." He said as inoccently as possible.

"Whatever you say Black, whatever you say." After that my stomach started to rumble like crazy. I got so caught up in my super nose I forgot I was hungry. I looked over at the others and smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry guys."

"For what, being hungry? If I had a nickel for every time I was sorry for being hungry, I'd be broke." Embry quipped.

"Shouldn't it be rich?" I asked.

"No because I wouldn't be sorry I would just eat." He said shrugging. I snorted.

"You got a point there."

Before we made our way into the kitchen I stopped and spoke again

"Ok just to get this out of the way so no one asks me again. Emily you smell like peaches, Jared you smell like a box of chocolates," I walked into the living room where Collin, Brady, Seth, Leah and Claire were sitting. I walked over to one of the boys.

"What's your name?"

"Brady"

"Well Brady you smell like blueberries" I turned to the boy next to him "That must make you Collin."

"How did you know?"

"Well new kids usually stick together, and you two are the youngest ones in the room besides the 2 year old behind me. And I remember someone saying you two were the youngest in the pack."

"Well aren't you an observant one." I heared someone say sarcastically. I turned and saw Leah holding Claire in her lap Seth was sitting next to her. I turned back to Collin.

"As I was saying, Collin, you smell like peppermint ." I turned around and spoke to Seth.

"You must be Seth."

"Yep."

"Well you smell like a pack of bubblegum."

"What flavor?"

"Watermelon" He smirked at that. I turned my attention to Leah who looked like she didn't care about what I said.

"Well I'll try not to bore you any further miss Clearwater, but you smell like an ocean breeze except it has a bitter edge to it." She started scowling at me and her scent became harsher.

"Do I look like I care?"

"No but I told everyone else so I figured I let you know. You might wanna calm down though, an ocean breeze is supposed to be a pleasant smell, and right now it's not." She narrowed her eyes into slits and flared her nostrils. The ocean breeze smell was replaced with a violent storm. She was beyond angry at this point. I could smell crayons freezing over. I turned to look at Quil who had a concerned look on his face.

"Don't worry Quil, she won't hurt Claire, and I won't hurt either of them."

"How did-"

"I can smell your fear." Everyone looked at me like I grew another head. I turned back to Leah and Claire and spoke to Claire.

"You must be Claire right?"

She nodded

"Are you having fun today?"

"Yes."

"Well I'm very happy to hear that."

"I can ask you someting?"

"Sure"

"What I smell like?"

I literally felt my face drop. Then I heard snickering which built up into laughter. I turned my head a saw everyone laughing their asses off. Even Leah was having trouble containing her laughter. I turned back to Claire and she had hurt look on her face.

"What's wrong sweetheart?"

"Dey make fun of me." The laughter stopped almost instantly.

"They weren't making fun of you."

"Den why did dey laugh?"

"They were just being silly. But to answer your question from before you smell like Bananas."

"Nannas?"

"Yes nannas."

"I like nannas."

"I do too."

"But you don't like auntie Weah."

"What makes you say that?"

"You act like dem." She pointed to the people behind me.

"What do they act like?"

"Mean." As she said it she crossed her arms and pouted. It was an adorable sight but I knew she wasn't lying. I turned back and all of them were rubbing the back of their heads and were looking at the ground. Quil tried to explain things to Claire, but she wasn't having it.

"Claire bear-"

"No! stop being mean to auntie Weah!" we all were taken aback when she did that. I didn't think she had it in her to do that.

"But-"

"No! She's not mean to me and would never hurt me." She turned to Leah and said "Right auntie Weah?"

"Of course not kid." Leah said with a smile.

She turned back to me and said

"And Unca...what's your name?"

"T.J."

"Unca tee your nice to me but you have to say sowwie to auntie Weah."

I could hear the others snickering behind me. I turned around and said.

"Would you like to share with the rest of the class?" They stopped.

"Actually" I turned back and said "Claire don't you think they should apologize to your auntie Leah?"

"Yes." I could hear the others mutter things like traitor and kiss ass.

"Well I'll go first. Leah, I'm sorry I was being a...jerk I didn't mean to come across like one."

"It's fine." she said sharply.

I knew it wasn't fine but I simply nodded and turned around to walk out of the room. Quil was standing behind me so I just patted his back.

"Told ya not to worry." He gave me a weak smile and went to stand near Claire and Leah. I headed towards the front door till I smelled Paul. He smells stronger so either he was still pissed or he was in his wolf form. I didn't remember him stopping to set his clothes on the side so he must be a wolf. I groaned and headed towards the kitchen.

"What's up T.J.?"

"Paul's here...as a wolf." I could hear the shuffling of feet as they went to the front door

"Two for two there teej." chirped Embry.

"He probably needs clothes." I said.

"Yeah he ripped them earlier." Sam Said. "How did you know?"

"I figured if he had clothes he would've came in by now." I said shrugging.

"Ha Leah was right you are observant." Said Jared.

I shrugged "I guess so. Is it ok if I get something to eat?"

"Sure go help yourself." Emily said.

"Thanks" And with that I made my way to the kitchen. I went over to the cabinets, grabbed a bowl, and made my way to the stove. There were three big pots of chilli and two big pans of conbread on the kitchen counter. I filled the bowl to the brim, grabbed a paper towel, grabbed two pieces of corn bread and sat on the dinner table.

I was barely on my second bowl before Jared, Embry, Sam and Paul came in. Paul looked at me sheepishly before offering his hand.

"Sorry man."

"You don't have to apologize." I shook his hand. "I did kinda egg you on, so due over?"

"Sure."

Before I could go back to eating until Jared spoke up.

"You know, you never told us your last name."

"It's Matthews."

"I don't remember there being any Matthews in the bloodlines."

"I'm a Uley through my grandma. She and Sam's grandpa are brother and sister." Jared then turned to Sam. I guess he was gonna ask Sam why he never mentioned me. Sam must've thought the same thing because he put his hand up to stop him.

"I didn't think he was gonna phase so I left him alone."

"What happened before you phased? What caused you to lose your shit?" Paul asked. Before I could open my mouth Jake came in.

"Some dumbass was giving him shit and T.J. broke his arm."

"Nice."

"Awesome."

"It wasn't all that. Like Jake said it was just some dumbass."

"How did it start?" ask Jared.

"Will you idiots let the boy eat. He's been trying to eat for the better half of 45 minutes." Said Sam.

"Sorry T.J. we'll talk after." I nodded and turned to Sam after they left. I arched one of my eyebrows and said

"Boy?"

"What?"

"I may be a year younger than you _cousin_ but I am hardly a boy."

He rolled his eyes and said "Whatever. How's the chilli?"

"It's great." I continued to eat until I saw Sam just staring at me.

"What, do I have something on my face?"

"No I'm just thinking."

"About?"

"About why you and the boys phased. They're barely teenagers and already they changed."

"Maybe it's that red head you guys have been trying to catch. What's her name again? Victoria?"

"Yeah how did-"

"I heard someone thinking about it earlier. I'll come with you guys and get her scent. That way if we run into any other vamps we won't get confused."

"They all smell the same to us."

I got up from the table and made me another bowl of chilil. I walked back and said

"Well I imagine the feelling is mutual. Besides with this" I pointed to my nose "we'll be very acurate about it."

"Ok, I'll let you patrol at night with Quil and Embry. Then we'll rotate when the boys get used to this."

"Sounds like a plan."

I started eating again and I looked over at the clock. It said it was 2:15 in the afternoon. I was doing wolf business for two and a half hours. Two and a half hours I well spent if ya ask me. I shrugged and kept eating. After my fifth bowl I grabbed whatever dishes I made and headed for the sink. I turned the water on, put soap on the sponge, and and started washing. Well, I tried to before I felt someone tap my shoulder. I turned around and saw Emily with her hands on her hips.

"And what do you think you are doing?"

"Uh picking up after myself?"

She shook her head " you don't need to do that."

"It's fine Emily, I don't mind."

"Well I do now shoo."

Did she seriously just tell me to shoo? I looked over to Sam hoping I could get some assistance. Turns out I have no such luck.

"Sorry cos her kitchen her rules. I'm not gonna fight her on that."

Someone mumbled "Of course you wouldn't". My guess it was Leah because Sam had an apologetic look on his face. I threw my hands up in surrender and headed to the living room. I saw Quil, Collin, Brady, and Claire on the floor playing cards. Seth and Leah were still on the couch. Seth was watching a baseball game and Leah looked anxious to leave. I sat on the chair near the card game and pretended to watch the baseball game. I turned to Quil and said

"Whatcha guys playing?"

"Go fish."

"Yeah fish." said Claire.

"Cool"

"You play?" asked Claire.

"Maybe later."

"Ok." Despite the outburst from before she seems like a happy go lucky kid. The faces she's making while trying to decide what card to ask for is priceless. I looked at Quil and he was doing the same thing. He looked up at me with pleading eyes. I guess he wanted me to sneak a peak at the cards the boys had. Brady held a 4,2,8, a king and a 6. Collin had 3,7,5 , and a jack of hearts. I looked back at the tv and I held up three fingers. Quil pointed at one of the cards Claire had.

"Thwee?"

"Here." Said Collin. I scratched my nose with two fingers. Quil must've pointed again because Claire said

"Two?"

"Here ya go kid." Said Brady. I stretched my arms and pulled them down to the top of my head. It was meant to symbolize a crown being place on someone's head. Quil didn't get it because he had ask me what it was.

"Is that supposed to be a hat?"

The second he said that Claire, Collin, and Brady turned to look at me.

"What?"

"What was he talking about?" asked Collin.

I just shrugged

"Beats me."

"Were you cheating?" asked Claire

"Yes they were." All our heads snapped up to look at Leah who had a smirk on her face. From what I could smell she was amused by this. Claire on the other hand, was not.

"Qwil!"

"Yes bear?"

"Why did you cheat?"

"I uh I-"

"Unca tee!"

"Yes sweetheart?"

"Why did you help? Mama said cheating is wrong."

I sighed before I spoke.

"I don't know sweetheart but I guess Quil really wanted you to win."

"I didn't need help!"

"Ok ok I'm sorry I won't cheat for you again."

"Me too bear."

She crossed her arms and said

"I'm still mad at you."

"We're really sorry Claire. Collin, Brady I'm sorry about all this."

They both shrugged before speaking

"We just did this to kill time." said Collin

"We didn't take this seriously, so no harm no foul." said Brady.

Now if we could only calm Claire down. If we could-

"Stop it!""I was brought out of my thoughts when I heard Claire yell. I looked up and saw Claire laughing and squealing at the same time. Quil had pulled her into his lap and started tickling her.

"Some...one...help!" Claire said through laughing. I looked at Collin and Brady and we all shrugged.

"Let's get him!" yelled Brady.

"Save the girl first." I said.

Collin pulled Claire out of Quil's grasp and handed her to me. Brady practically clothes lined Quil and slamed his head to the ground. Collin jumped on Quil's legs while Brady held Quil's upper body. I pulled Claire closer and whispered

"Do you wanna see if Quil is ticklish?"

"Yes!"

I let her go and she showed no mercy.

"Claire bear stop!"

"No keep going." Yelled Collin.

"Show him who's boss!" said Brady.

I was practically pissing myself in hysterics that I didn't notice the others came in the room. They actually seemed to be enjoying this exchange.

"Ok that's enough." Said Sam

"But unca Sam I was having fun!" whined Claire.

"I know I know but it's time for the boys to head home."

"I should head out too. My grandma's probably waiting for me." I said.

"Come on I'll drop you guys off."

With that we said our farewells. Brady's house was closest so we dropped him off first. Before he went inside Sam told all of us not to mention this to anyone and get plenty of rest. He nodded and went home. Collin was next and he actually lived fairly close to Brady. I never realized how far into the rez Sam's house was until we were driving to my grandma's house. We rode in silence until I noticed Sam kept looking over at me.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing I was just wondering...your mom's not Quilute is she?"

"No, my dad was full a blooded Quilute and my mom's half hawaiian half english. Why what's up?"

"Well, when I said you can't tell anyone anything, that goes double for your mother."

"Because she's an outsider." I didn't say it as a question because I knew where this was headed.

"Yes. Look T.J. I know-"

"I know how it is Sam," I said sharply. Cutting him off before he could finsh the the thought. "My dad told my mom why he hardly brought us here. He said no one would ever fully accept the fact that he married someone who wasn't from here. They would never accept the fact that I was a half breed. He knew all of this, but he loved my mother too much to give up on their relationship because of outdated ways of thinking. In short he didn't care what the elders or the residents would say, he was staying with her. He loved her so much that he was willing to cut his own mother out of his life if she didn't approve. Luckily she's open minded and she gave my mom a chance. Trust me I know all of this and it irritates the shit out of me."

He didn't say anything at first. I guess he was a little shell shocked at my honesty. We drove for about 2 minutes before he started talking.

"I get where you're coming from T.J. but it has to be this way. Not just to protect our secret but for her safety as well."

"I know and I'll hold my tongue although I'm pretty sure it's pointless."

"Why's that?"

"My mom knows a good chunk of of culture including our legends."

"How?"

"My dad told her when they first started dating. She told him about her culture and he thought it was fair that he told her about his. Besides my mom is not a stupid person. She'll take one look at me and know somethings different. Then she'll get curious and maybe she'll follow me when I have to go patrol. Then after that well..." I trailed off because I was hoping he would get the picture.

"I see."

"Look I won't say anything out of respect for secrecy, and my respect for you. I'm pretty sure my grandma will know about pack stuff and she'll know how to keep quiet. I'll ask her for advice to keep my mom at bay because I think she might have went to a few council meetings so she knows protocol."

"That sounds fine with me."

Not to long after that we pulled up in front of the house. We both got out and headed to the front door. I turned to face Sam to say my goodbye.

"Thanks, Sam, for everything." I offered him my hand and he took it.

"No problem T.J. Remember to rest up," He put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. "Here call if you ever want to talk."

I took it from him and asked

"How come you didn't give this to the boys?"

"I know their families very well, if they need anything they just have ask their parents to give me a call."

"Oh ok."

"See ya later."

"Later"

And with that he left. I walked into the house and my grandma was sitting in her chair.

"Did it happen?" she asked

"Yes grandma, it happened."

She sighed and hung her head.

"What's wrong grandma?"

"Nothing it's just...part of me is proud that you're apart of the pack, but-"

"Part of you is worried I might get hurt or found out."

"Yes."

"Don't worry grandma I took every precaution necessary. They won't find out and I won't get hurt."

"Ok my sweet if you say so."

I had to chuckle when she called me that.

"What?" she asked.

"Don't you think I'm a little too old to be called that?"

"No because you are my only grandson and I will always call you that."

"Ok, well I better go rest up before mom gets home. We got alot to discuss."

"Do you want something to eat first?"

"I ate at Sam's."

"How did the others take the news about you being his cousin?"

"They were surprised and confused as to why Sam didn't mention me. But he told them he thought I wasn't going to become a wolf and he just left me alone."

"Ok...you didn't tell them you were also Jacob's cousin?"

"No and I don't know if I should... there's already an issue with Embry's paternity and this isn't going to help."

"They still don't know who his father is?"

"No they don't really talk about it. If I was a betting man, my money's on Joshua Uley."

"That poor boy."

"I know I feel bad for him...do you want me to tell them grandma? about you and William Sr? because if you don't I will carry that secret to the grave if I have to."

"Do what you feel is right sweetheart. Just remember if you do tell them alot of lives will be affected."

I nodded in understanding. If I told anyone, how would Jacob take the news? How would his father take the news? How would the tribe and the pack take this? I'll mull it over for a bit before I decide anything. There is still one thing I have to know.

"Grandma?"

"Yes?"

"Before I ask you this I want you to know that I love you and this is not me passing judgement on you. Ok?"

"Ok."

"Do you reget being with him? if you had the chance to change the past would you?"

She sighed heavily before speaking.

"Yes and no. I do regret the fact that I slept with a married man. I regret handiling the paternity issue the way I did. I do regret not being honest from the get go. Despite all of this one person made it worth it; your father. When I held him for the first time, I felt complete. I didn't care if I wasn't married or if I had to take care of him by myself. As long as he was with me nothing else mattered. If anyone didn't like it then they could shove it as far as I was concerened."

"Huh that's how dad felt about me and mom." I said. She smiled when I said that.

"I know, and I was happy that you and your mother brought him such joy. So even though I have some regret, I would never change a thing."

"That's good to know grandma." After I said that I pulled her into a hug. She flinched to second we made contact.

"Oh sorry I forgot about the temperature difference."

"It's fine but you should rest and change before your mom gets here."

"Ok I'll see you in a little bit."

She went into the kitchen presumably to start dinner, and I went to my room. I grabbed one of my shirts from the drawer and slipped it on. It's a little snug so I gotta go shopping for clothes. I headed over to my bed so I could lie down. When I did I thought about the events that took place. Despite my run in with Banks today was a good day.


	6. Tattoos and Half Truths

T.J. POV

It's been two months since I changed. I grew about few inches and my muscles are becoming more defined. Patrol hasn't been too rough. Don't get me wrong I get tired, but since I don't have school, and I've been working half days at Dowlings, it's all a little easier.

Speaking of patrol, it's actually kinda fun. Quil and Embry are cool although, if I had to pick who I would rather patrol with, it would be Quil. That's not to say I dislike Embry, it's just nearly everytime we run together I always see his latest "adventure" with some girl named Missy.

**FLASHBACK**

I was waiting in the woods for Embry to show up. He was 10 minutes late for patrol. I was pacing in my wolf form which admittedly, is very strange for a wolf, let alone a giant one. I was about to call it quits until this smell of sex hit me like a ton of bricks. He pops out about five seconds later with the biggest grin his face can muster.

"Sorry bro I got caught up in something. Give me a sec?"

I nodded and he slipped off to phase. Not even 10 seconds go by and his wolf head has that same grin plastered on his face. It wasn't a good thing because he looked goofy as hell.

_Do I even want to know?_ I asked.

_What?_

_You know what bro. Nearly everytime we patrol, you always think about her and all that kinky shit. Do I really want to know about the latest things you've tried?_

_Jealous?_

_No, I'm just starting to think you're doing this on purpose._

He huffed and said

_Whatever. Ready?_

_No, I've been waiting on your horny ass for the past 10 minutes because I wasn't ready._

_You know you love me._

I mentally and physically rolled my eyes and said

_Let's get this over with._

**END FLASHBLACK**

If I couldn't pick either of them, I would pick the Clearwaters. Seth is a given because he's a good kid with a pure mind. Me and Leah only patroled together twice and both times is wasn't so tense. We mostly ran in silence.

**FLASHBACK**

Leah and I were running right along the treaty line trying to find the source of this weird scent. Well it was weird to me. Leah just thought it was another vamp passing through. I could tell it was a vampire but the individual scent was that of a furry cat. Leah thought I lost my mind when I said that but I just shrugged it off. Again we ran in silence until she said

_So what, you're going to pretend I don't exist? That's a new one._

_No of course not._

_Then why haven't you tried speaking to me? Everyone else does...in some lame attempt to "express myself."_

_You're a very strong person Leah. You're more than capable of making your own decisions. I'm not going to make you do something you don't want to. If you wanted to talk to me you would have. Do you want to talk about something?_

I said this with as much sincerity I could muster. It's not that I didn't to have a heart to heart with her. It's just I didn't want her thinking I pited her. I mean I did but I know she didn't want to be seen as weak.

_No not really it's just..._

_Yes?_

_It's nothing._

_Ok._

_Ok?_

_Yeah. Like I said if you wanted to talk about something you would have. _

_Thanks..._ she muttered

_No problem._

**END FLASHBACK**

Victoria is still being a pain in the ass. We've been this close to getting her but she always slips away. That furry cat scent belongs to her. One day when we were out on patrol, we noticed we weren't the only ones chasing her.

**FLASHBACK**

_Damn this bitch is fast._-Paul

_Yeah no shit._-Jacob

For the past 15 minutes we've chased Victoria through out the Rez. Like Paul said she was fast.

_I think she has a gift. _-Me

_Like what? _-Jared

_It's somewhere between advanced fight or flight response or advanced self preservation. Both of them make sense, but I'm leaning towards the latter considering she always manages to slip away from us._ -Me

_What the fuck are you talking about?_ -Paul

_You should read more often Lahote, you might learn something._ -Me

His only response was to growl at me.

_Enough Paul, T.J.'s got a point, it does make a lot of sense if you think about it. _-Sam

_Whatever_ -Paul

We ran another quarter mile before we all smelled that sickly sweet scent. The others complained that it was nasty but it was fine to me.

_Great more trouble._ -Jared

_We can take em._ -Paul

_It's probably the Cullens._ -Me

_How would you know?_ -Leah

_Because unlike the undead cat lady we've been chasing, these vamps don't smell that bad. Well actually they don't smell bad at all. I guess it's because they don't feed from humans._ -Me

_Either way we'll fuck em up._ -Paul

_No we won't. Focus on the task at hand._ -Sam

Not even a second goes by before we see these blond and brunette blurs. They ran right along the treaty line and once I saw Carlisle's face I knew I was right.

_Damn Teej that nose of yours is good._ -Jared

_Thanks._ - Me

We did our best to catch up but she would slip out of our grasp. Even Leah was having a hard time. It only got worse when she jumped over the stream and on to Cullen land. When she did that we all came to an abrupt halt. She turned around to see our faces. She smirked at us and bolted out of there. We ran along side the stream in the hopes that we could cut her off incase she jumped over.

_What was that about?_ - Jared

_She was testing the waters so to speak. Now she knows we can't go over the stream. She may not know why but she'll use it to her advantage._ - Me

_My thoughts exactly._ - Sam

_Fuck._ - Jake and Paul

_Let's hope Papa vamp and his_ family _have better luck than we do._ - Leah

_Doesn't look like it._ - Jared

We all snapped our heads in their direction. They were having as much difficulty as we were. Jasper and Alice (or as the pack would call them, Scarface and Pixie) tried to tag team her. She side stepped and knocked Jasper into Alice. Rosalie (Bloodsucker barbie) came up from behind and tried to tackle her. Victoria turned around, grabbed Rose by the wrists and threw her into a tree. Emmett, Carlisle, and Esme (Roid rage, Dr. Fang, and Mama Leech) lunged at her at the same time. She slapped Emmett with the the back of her hand, succesfully throwing him off guard and flying into Carlisle. She grabbed Esme by her throat and threw her at her mate and son.

_Fuckin' A. If she wasn't a vamp and wasn't annoying the shit out of me, I might ask her out._ - Paul

We all groaned and rolled our eyes. We ran towards a part of the stream where there is a sharp left turn. Before we could make the the turn Victoria came straight for us with Emmett on her tail.

_What is she doing?_ - Jared

_Who cares I call dibs._ - Paul

And with that he went towards the stream. My eyes were locked on Victoria. The second she saw Paul a wicked grin appeared on her face.

_Paul stop, it's a trap!_ - Me

Before I even finished the sentence, the idiot jumped with his mouth wide open. Victoria jumped as well, her left foot landed on his bottom lip, her right on his nose. With that she pushed herself off and went into a back flip. In one fluid motion she landed on Emmett's shoulders and pushed him forward. They both collided violently and ended up in the stream.

_Oh shit._ - Jacob and Jared

Paul tried to scramble to his feet.

_You fucking leech I'll kill you!_ - Paul

Without thinking I ran behind Paul and grabbed his leg with my mouth. He howled in pain and tried to buck me off. I pulled him back over to our side before a fight broke out.

_What the hell Matthews?_ - Paul

_We are_ not _going to war because of your temper Lahote._ - Me

_You are not my Alpha now let me go!_ - Paul

_It case you forgot you are not my Alpha either so don't tell me what to do._ - Me

**_ENOUGH._ -** Sam

Paul and I both stood still. His leg was still in my mouth.

_Paul, what you did was reckless. If you do it again, you won't have to worry about T.J. or anyone else hurting you because I will. Got it?_ - Sam

_Got it_ - Paul

_T.J., if you attack one of your packmates without my consent again, there will be hell to pay. Got it? - _Sam

_Got it._ - Me

_Good. Now let him go._ - Sam

I complied and opened my mouth. Paul limped away from me snarling while glaring at me. We turned our attention to the Cullens. Carlisle was at the front with the others behind him. He held his hands up as a sign that he meant no harm.

"I apologize for what happened that wasn't our intention. We just wanted to get Victoria."

_So she can join your fucked up family?_ - Paul

_Shut up paul._ - Me

_Yeah dickhead you did enough for today._ - Leah

_All of you be quiet._ - Sam

"She's been causing us problems as well. May I suggest something?"

We couldn't see Edward anywhere so Sam just nodded.

"How about a temporary alliance? We all have a common goal."

Sam turned to us and said.

_What do all of you think?_ - Sam

_Fuck that! Did you not see what roid rage did to me?_ - Paul

_That's because you were being stupid. Anyway I don't see the harm in it._ - Me

_As long as they stay on that side I'm good._ - Jared

_Same._ - Leah

_If it was any other tick we could tell em to fuck off. But I don't see any other option._ - Jacob

_Ok._ - Sam

Sam turned to Carlisle and nodded. He put his head close to the stream. He looked to the left and then to the right. He then focused his gaze on Carlisle who seemed to get what he was saying without a translator.

"Don't worry we will stay on our side of the line."

Sam nodded and with that we continued the pursuit.

**END FLASHBACK**

That was almost a week ago and needless to say, we lost her. Jake was a little pissed that he couldn't get "the red headed bitch" that almost hurt Bella. Speaking of Bella, she was gone the weekend we had our run in with Victoria. Jake practically flew off the handle, getting ready for war. Sam told him to calm down and wait for the evidence...if there was any. So what does the poor boy do? He goes to forks and tries to talk to her. Sam was pissed that he stepped off tribal land and into their territory.

How the hell am I supposed to tell him I'm his cousin? I mean he always moping about Bella and it doesn't help when we have to share the same mind.

All my current thoughts were stopped when I heard a knock at my door. I opened it and my mom was on the other side.

"Hey sweetie, it's almost time for you to leave."

I glanced over to my alarm clock and it read 4:45. I was supposed to be at Sam's by 5:30 but I was going to leave early cosidering how far into the rez he is.

"Wow I didn't realize how late it was. I'll get ready and head to the shed to grab the bike."

"Ok...are you alright?"

"As ok as I can be I guess."

"It's coming up soon...the big fight."

"Yeah."

"You're worried about him...about Jacob."

"Yeah. He's a good guy but..."

"You're torn about telling him? or anyone else?"

"Did you have a dream about this conversation?" I said smiling.

"Oh no a mother just knows these things." she smiled back.

"True but with you that holds a whole different meaning."

"And what is that supposed to mean?" as she said this, she placed her hands on her hips, arched one eyebrow, and tapped her foot. Shit...the classic mom pose.

"Well?"

"Nothing ma. I meant nothing by it."

"Mmhm...sure you didn't."

"Really I didn't. I better get ready me and the boys are getting our tattoos."

"I thought you were supposed to get them a month ago?"

"Yeah but then patrol got amped up and the boys needed permission. The tattoo artist is free today so we have to get it done."

"Ok. Do you know whose doing them?"

"Personally no. I have seen his work and he's good."

"Did you have any visions about talking with him?"

"A little. He's Jared's cousin on his mom's side and like me he's a half breed."

"Ooh what is he mixed with?"

"Black and Samoan."

"Another poly mix."

"Yep. Seems like a cool guy too. From what I gather he grew up in Hawai'i."

"That's nice. Well I'll leave you to it. And Thomas?"

"Yeah?"

"Whatever decision you make, I'll support you."

"Thanks ma."

"Now stop being nervous I gave you the name Nakoa for a reason. You remember what it means right?"

"Bravery or to be brave depending on how it's used."

"I'm glad you remember." she said with a smile.

"Kinda hard to forget when your mother goes out of her way to remind every chance she gets." I muttered

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

She glared at me for a second and just shook her head.

"Oh be quiet and get ready."

"Yeah I'll do that. I might ask Sam for advice on how to tackle this..."

"Issue?"

"Yeah."

"Just be careful."

"I will."

I grabbed my clothes and hopped into the shower. Hopefully Sam might have some insight into how to handle this. I should call him after I shower.

SAM POV

I was upstairs in me and Emily's room when the phone rang downstairs. Emily said she got it and answered it. I tried not to listen just in case it was for her. Kinda hard to do with all the wolf senses though.

"Hello? Hi how are you doing? Yeah one second. Sam!"

"Yeah Em?"

"T.J.'s on the phone."

I walked downstairs into the kitchen and grabbed the phone from her.

"Hello?"

"Hey cos."

"Hey what's up? need a ride?"

"No I'm gonna ride my bike over. I'm giving you guys a heads up just in case you thought I was gonna run there."

"Ok are you gonna be here by 5.30?"

"Yeah I will. And Sam?"

"Yeah?"

"After I get the tattoo can we talk? alone?"

"Sure."

"See you in a bit."

"See ya."

I hung up the phone and turned to Emily.

"Everything ok? He sounded nervous."

"Yeah he's gonna ride his bike instead of running here."

"Ok. are you you gonna tell the others?"

"We heard!" came several voices from the living room.

"Right super hearing I forgot."

I kissed her on the forehead and made my way into the living room. Jeff "Jughead" Tuiasosopo, Jared's cousin was setting up for Brady's tattoo. Harry was the one who did the tattoo's and after he passed away, we needed a new tattoo artist. Some of the elders were a bit wary of using him. But since he knew about the legends and promised to keep his involvement with us a secret, he's been our tattoo artist ever since.

"Alright Brady you're up." he said

"Don't worry it's not that bad. Just don't move." - Collin

"Yeah bro it's fine." - Embry

"Here goes nothing." - Brady.

Brady was flinching alittle for about a few minutes. After he relaxed, things were easier. Now we just need to wait for T.J. and we'll be fine.

T.J. POV

It's been awhile since I rode this bike but it handles like dream. I really need to ride it more often but honestly what's the point? I'm not allowed off the reservation and I don't know that many people so I just run.

When I pulled up to Sam's house, I saw Jake's dirt bike, a blue mustang and Sue's honda. The others must've ran here. I rode over to the side of the house since there wasn't that much dirt. I switched the bike off and got off of it. I walked to the front porch where Paul, Jared, and Seth were sitting.

"Is that really yours?" - Seth.

"Nah I stole it from this biker douche in Port Angeles." I said with a serious look on my face.

"Really?" he asked half shocked and amused.

"No." I said grinning widely.

"Not funny Teej."

"It's a little funny."

"So how did you get it?" - Jared

"It was my dad's."

"Mind if I look at it?" - Paul

"Look all you want but if you break it I'll break you."

He snorted.

"Sure you will."

"I mean it Lahote."

"Jeeze Matthews give me some credit."

"Just watch it ok?"

"Alright alright chill."

"Seth, go with him." - Jared

"Don't worry Teej I'll make sure he dosen't damage it." He gave me a salute and ran after Paul.

"Gotta love that boy." - Jared

"Yeah he's good kid. And is it me or is Paul a little...calmer?""

"Yeah he's trying to keep his anger under control. He had to many close calls and what happened near the stream was too much for him. "

"I see."

"Come on I'll introduce you to Jug."

"Jug?"

"He'll explain."

I just nodded even though I already knew the explanation. His dad was a fan of the Archie comic strip and he said Jeff was exactly like the character. Well he acted like him anyway.

Jared and I walked in the front door and I saw Embry, and Collin on the couch watching T.V. Brady was in the middle of the room with a wooden chair and collapsible arm rest. Next to him was Jug and you would swear he was a wolf. He had a solid build and his right arm was covered in Polynesian tattoos. Even though he was sitting down it wasn't that hard to tell he was tall. His cheek bones were high, his hair was slightly wavy, and he has a darker complexion than the rest of us. He looked over at me and Jared and smiled.

"Hey I'm Jug." He held out his hand and I shook it.

"T.J."

"Glad to see I'm not the only half breed around here."

"Like wise."

"I'm almost done with Brady and after that you're up."

"Alright."

I sat on the open part of the couch and just looked around.

"Where are the others?"

"Out back." - Embry.

"Yeah they're keeping Claire and Kim occupied." - Collin

Kim. Been awhile since I've seen her. I would have spoken to her sonner if I wasn't so damn busy. I wonder if she knows I'm apart of the pack. As if he had the abilty to read minds, Jared spoke up.

"She wants to see you."

"Really?"

"Yeah she wants to apologize."

"For what?" Seriously she didn't do anything wrong. I can't fathom why she would think she needed to do that.

" She feels bad for abandoning you."

"What the- she didn't abandoned me."

I turned to Jug and said

"Do you know how much longer you'll have with Brady?"

"About 6 minutes of shading then I have to change the needle. So another 10 to 15 minutes altogether."

"Good. There's something that I have to clear up."

"Take your time."

I turned back to Jared and said

"Walk with me?"

"Sure."

We both walked out of the living room and into the kitchen. After a quick hello with Sam and Emily we headed towards the backyard. Claire was playing catch with Kim and Leah. And Quil and Jake were playing frisbee but Quil would look over at Claire and she would look back. When he spotted us she followed his line of sight and said

"Unca tee!"

"Hey sweetheart."

She ran as fast as her chubby legs could take her. When she was a few feet away I knelt down to pick her up. She squealed when I threw her in the air.

"How are you doing Claire?"

"I'm good."

"Seems like you were having fun."

"Yeah auntie Kim and auntie Lee are fun."

"What happened to weah?"

"I thought it would be easier for her to say." - Leah

My head snapped up in her direction and I nodded. Kim was standing a few feet away and she looked kinda surprised to see me.

"Hey Kim long time no see."

"Hi T.J. and about that..."

"Don't even go there Kimberly Anne Cole. You have nothing to apologize for."

"You're not mad?"

"Why would I be?"

"I don't know it's just... when we went to highschool things changed. We slowly grew apart."

"It's called shi-" I stopped mid sentence because I was holding Claire and I didn't want to add the word shit to her growing vocabulary. "It's called terrible scheduling and lots of homework. Seriously Kim I'm not mad. I'm kinda glad I got you back in my life now."

"Really?"

"Yeah. You were one of my best friends and you helped me out not too long after...well you know. So no I'm not mad."

She paused for a moment. She then made her way over to me and pulled me into a hug. Which is kinda difficult when I'm almost a foot taller than her her. I bent down so she could wrap her arms around my neck and my left arm went around her back to the other side of her waist. Claire felt left out so she hugged our heads. We all laughed and I said

"As nice as this is, I'm sure Jared doesn't want another man touching his woman."

Me and Kim looked at him with arched eyebrows as if to say 'well?' His eyes widened a bit but they softend and he said

"Way to throw me under the bus bro."

"You know it's true."

He shrugged and nodded as if to say 'yeah you're right'. I turned to claire and said

"Do you wanna go down?"

"Down!"

"Ok."

I kissed her on the cheek and set her on the ground. She ran near Leah and Kim followed suit.

"Well I better head back in it's my turn."

"Remember not to move." - Quil

"Thank you for the reminder, I would've forgotten if you didn't." Even though I was trying to be sarcastic, I said it with a dull tone and a hard look on my face.

"Really?"

This time I softened my face and the amusent in my voice was more pronounced.

"Yes. Thank you Quil you have saved me from ruining my body."

He finally caught on and said

"Oh go to hell."

There was a small gasp followed by

"Quil! that is a bad word!" - Claire

"Yeah Quil it's a bad word"- Jake said chuckling

"How could you say such a thing?" - Kim. Shaking her head in mock disapointment.

"Yeah Ateara did you forgot you were in the pressence of a child?" - Leah said smirking.

"Sheesh bro learn to filter your words." - Jared

"But I didn't mean- I mean I did but-" he stumbled over his words before he faced me and said "This is your fault!" He pointed his finger at me to add a more theactrical flare to the drama.

"Not my fault you said it...nor is it my fault that you can be gullible."

"I am not gullible!"

"Oh please you're almost as bad as Seth."

"Hey!"

I turned around to see the boy in question with a sour look on his face. It has to be said that it does not suit him.

"Well speak of the devil."

"You ask me to guard your bike then you make fun of me? I thought we were friends?"

"We are and while I appreciate you doing that, I never asked you to do it. Jared did. Then you gave me a salute and ran after Paul. Speaking of which where is he?"

"He's in the house."

"Which is where I need to be now if you'll excuse me."

I left them all there and headed back inside. When I got in Sam was talking with Emily. I slipped passed them and went into the living room. Jug was sitting his chair drawing in his sketch book.

"Uh jug?"

He looked up at me and smiled.

"Bout time you got in."

"Did you wait long?"

"No. But let's get it cracking."

He montioned for me to sit down and asked me to roll up my sleeve. He took out a disposable razor and started shaving my shoulder. He rubbed some solution on my arm and placed the stencil on it.

"If you guys didn't heal so quickly I could've done this free hand."

"Is it easier that way?"

"For me it is since I have really good memory and I know it by heart, but it would take a little longer since sharpies don't last that long on your skin. So me slapping a stencil on lessens the time."

"You're memory must come in handy with this job."

"Believe me it does." He dipped his needle in the ink and said "Ready?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Now relax as much as you can."

He grabbed my bicep to hold my arm in place. When the needle made contact I flinced a little but the pain stopped almost as quickly as it started.

"Not to bad huh?" he asked .

"No it's fine."

"So have you lived here all your life?"

"On the rez or in washington?"

"Here."

"No I moved here when I was four."

"What made your family move?"

I didn't want to answer that but he's a nice guy so I'll humor him.

"My um...dad passed away."

He stopped using the needle to look at me. He dipped it in the ink again and said.

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"It's fine. So where did you grow up?"

"Hawai'i."

"My moms from there."

"Which island is she from?"

"Well she was born on Maui but she was raised on Oahu."

"No shit? I grew up on Oahu."

"Which part?"

"I have some family in Palolo but most of us lived in the north shore."

"Do you know the Pierce family?"

"Yeah my brother married this girl named Chanel Pierce and I went to school with some of them. Why do you ask?"

"They're my cousins on my mothers side. Chanel and I are first cousins."

"No fuck around."

"No brah I'm serious. That must make Sione your brother."

"Yeah wow what a small world."

"No kidding."

This went on through out the tattooing process. Both of us kinda got lost in our world. I could tell the rest of the boys were confused. What I couldn't tell was whether it was the way we acted like we were old friends or from the way we talked. He told me he moved here when he was sixteen to spend time with his grandpa. He said it was his influence to become a tattoo artist. I asked him if he did all the work on his arm.

"A little bit here and there but for the parts I couldn't reach, I had a friend do it."

"It's some good stuff man."

"If you want, I could draw something out for you. And then I could put it on you."

"Really?"

"Yeah it's not often that I do polynesian work and it would be fun. I would have to do it in sections though."

"What's your rates?"

"We could started as soon as your ready."

"You didn't answer my question."

"That's because I'm not telling you."

"Why not?"

"For starters, it would be wrong to take advantage of this healing factor of yours. If I charged you what I normally charge with something like this, it would cost a small fortune. Even though I could go longer than I normally can and even though you would be healed with in an hour, it wouldn't feel right for me to charge you that much. Besides us half breeds need to stick together."

I nodded in understanding.

"But I can't just take this for free. I have to give you something."

"Yes you can and no you won't. You do enough as is."

"There's really no point in discussing this is there?"

"Nope. You may as well accept it." He said grinning.

"Fine. What did you have in mind?"

"Where do you want it?"

"I guess on one of my arms."

"Which one?"

"Which ever is easier."

"Well your left arm would be good because it would act as a blank slate. But I have a few ideas for your right arm."

"Hit me."

"Well it would start here." He pointed to my bicep. "Go here." He trailed his finger over my shoulder to my collar bone. " It won't go past your right pectoral. and it would end here." He pointed to my ribs. "As far as the back goes, it wouldn't go near the middle of your back and it would stop before the side of your ribs."

"That's pretty big you sure you don't wanna charge me?"

He glared at me for what felt like a minute and he said

"Yes I'm sure now stop bringing it up."

"Ok I won't. So what symbols are you gonna use?"

"Here take a look." He handed me his sketch pad and with my left hand I flipped through. There were lots of triangular and spearhead designs. There were symbols that resembled waves and birds.

"That would look good right under chest." Jug said motioning to one of the bird symbols.

"What is it?"

"The hawaiians call it Koa'e ula, a seabird. It represents safe travel."

"Cool."

"Yeah don't worry I'll pick some good ones for you."

"So how are we gonna do this?"

"Well I'm not tied down to any shops in the area since I do freelance work, you could stop by my uncles house here on the rez. Or I could come here or something."

"You can come here." - Sam

Me and Jug both turned to face him.

"You sure cos? I mean about all of this?"

"Of course, the wolf tattoo represents your commitment to the cause and your native heritage. If you wanna show respect to the other parts of your heritage, I won't stop you."

"Thank you."

"You don't have to thank me."

"You're done here Teej." - Jug

He took a rag and took a useless amount of antiseptic and cleaned off the area. I looked down at the tattoo and smiled.

"Looks good."

"Of course it does because I did it." - Jug said acting all smug.

I rolled my eyes.

"Whatever you're not that good." I held my hand out and and he took. We pulled eachother into a 'bro hug' and let go.

"I'll uh call you when I'm ready."

"Shoots. In the mean time I'll draw up some ideas."

"Sounds good."

I left him to gather his things and made my way over to Sam.

"Ready to talk?" he asked

"Yeah."

He nodded and went to the kitchen to tell Emily that we would be back. He came in and motioned towards the front door.

"This way."

I nodded and went with him. We headed towards the woods so we could be out of hearing range. When we found a suitable place he said.

"So, what did you wanna talk about?"

I heaved a sigh.

"My lineage."

"What about it?"

"This whole time everyone thought I got the wolf gene from the Uley bloodline. Which is not a lie but it's not the whole truth."

"What are you saying exactly?"

"I suppose I should start from the beginning. When my grandmother was in college, she was in a relationship with a man named Justin Matthews. Before the christmas break, they were having issues and they decided to take a break. You with me so far?"

He nodded slowly.

"When she came back to La push, she reconnected with an old friend of hers. He told her that he was having marital problems. They decided to drown their sorrows in some booze and...they slept together. They both agreed not to say anything to anyone. Not to long after that she found out she was pregnant with my dad."

"Ok but what does this have to do with where you got the wolf gene?"

"It has alot to do with it because the man she slept with was William Black Senior."

He stared at me for along time. He was breathing slowly and I was starting to regret telling him this.


	7. Revelations

Sam POV

I stared at Thomas for along time. I was trying to process what he just told me. If I heard him correctly, he is a descendant of both Ephraim Black and Levi Uley . One born to lead the other born to follow.

"Sam?"

"Huh?"

"You spaced out on me there. Are you ok?"

"I'm sorry that was just alot to take in. How...how long have you known about this?"

"Since I was four."

"And you're only saying something now? Why wasn't this brought to my attention before?"

"It's not exactly my secret to tell. Besides we got enough drama in the pack do we need anymore?"

Good point

"Still you could have told me. I wouldn't have said anything. You could have trusted me."

"It's not that I didn't trust you it's just...look, how are you supposed to tell people that your grandmother had an affair with a married man? That your father is his bastard son? I've been mulling it over for awhile and I spoke to my mom and my grandma-"

"Your mother knows about this?"

"Yes. My grandma told her and my dad on the same day." he said solemnly.

"What happened?"

"My dad got pissed and ran out of the house then he drove off. That was the last time I saw him before..." he looked down at the ground trailing off.

"Before?"

He took in a shaky breath and exhaled.

"He died."

His eyes started to water but he closed them and shook his head. He opened them and looked at me.

"Look Sam, the only reason I'm telling you this, is so I can have your imput. I want to know if it's a good idea for anyone else to know."

"If you're worried about the pack, they won't judge you or your family. I'll make sure of that."

"I'm not worried about them, I'm talking about everyone else."

"Like who?"

He looked at me as if I lost my mind.

"Oh gee Sam I don't know, how bout the whole fucking tribe! I'm sure the elders would get a kick out of this, especially old Quil."

"You don't kn-"

"Don't know what? That he wouldn't say anything? That he wouldn't make some crack about how I'm even more misplaced than I already am? I got enough shit growing up for being a half breed what makes you think I wouldn't get anymore now?"

I had to admit he had me there.

"Ok I don't know that but he has alot of respect for us."

"That's only because we put our lives at risk everyday while he sits on his ass and acts like he has the right to judge others. You don't see Billy or Sue or any of the others judging us do you?"

Again he had me there. While old Quil isn't exactly heartless, he does have a tendancy to be cold. Whether that's because he perfers living and sticking to the old ways, I don't know. I owe him alot because he helped me out but I won't lie and say he's all warm and fuzzy.

"Thomas-"

"Just forget I said anything Sam."

"Wait what?"

"I said forget anything I just told you. I don't even know why I said anything, it's not as if anyone one was gonna die if this information wasn't made public."

He looked like he wanted to say more, but he stopped. I guess after he said that, the memory of his dad dying popped back up.

"This is big news Thomas, would you rather it get out when we're on patrol?"

"I'm pretty good at keeping my thoughts to myself."

"I know but you could slip up one day."

"I won't."

"You can't be sure of that."

"Ever since I found out the drawbacks of the pack mind, I made sure not to slip up. I'll be fine Sam, now please forget what I said."

"They deserve to know."

"Who? Billy and Jacob?"

"Yes."

"Why? They seem fine without knowing this information."

"This invovles them, they have a right to know."

"And how am I supposed to tell them? What if Billy had a great relationship with his dad and this revelation damages that memory? Jacob is already moping about one thing do we need to add more fuel to the fire?"

"That's true but this is not something that should be hidden. I know this is hard, but it's obviously bothering you so we should tell them."

"And if I refuse?" he said crossing his arms over his chest.

He really shouldn't have said that.

"I really hate to pull rank here, but as your Alpha you **_will_** tell Billy and Jacob the truth."

He flinched and tried to shake it off. His eyes were laced with pleading. Silently asking me to take that back.

"Please Sam. My family became broken because of this secret. Don't ask me to do it to someone else."

"I'm sorry but this is not about you. I'm sure they would rather hear it from the horses mouth than from someone else."

He started looking around I could practically see the gears in his head turning. He was trying to figure a way out of this. When he didn't, he hung his head in defeat.

"I should have kept my mouth shut." he muttered.

"It'll be fine." I said placing my hand on his shoulder. "We'll do it together if you want."

"Are we gonna tell them at the same time?" he said with his head still down.

"I was thinking we should tell Billy first, then Jacob."

He looked up at me. Confusion was laced in his features.

"Why Billy?"

"Well if he get's upset, he'll just kick us out of the house. If we tell tell Jacob first, he might get upset and phase. If anyone happens to be a wolf at the time, they'll see it too and then it'll spread like wild fire."

He nodded.

"When are we doing it?"

"The sooner the better."

"Ok...just let me give my family a heads up. They'll need a warning when shit hits the fan."

"It won't be that bad."

"Sure it won't, because we live in an open minded community." he said with an eye roll.

"We'll tell Billy and Jake in a few days."

"Alright."

"Come on you better head home."

"Yeah."

We started heading back to the house. We walked silently and he wouldn't look at me. I could tell that this was eating him up and that he was upset. I just hope he understands that it's better this way.

T.J. POV

Stupid, stupid, stupid! What the hell was I thinking? I should have kept my mouth shut. I like Sam but I hate that fucking Alpha command of his. To say I was pissed would be an understatement. I was pissed at Sam for pulling rank, and I was pissed at myself for bringing it up. When we pulled up to his house Jared, Paul, and Embry were on the front porch. I didn't see the blue mustang that was here earlier. That must've been Jug's car and he must've left after we went for a walk. I tried my best not to seem angry but it didn't work.

"You alright bro?" - Embry

"Yeah. Why do you ask?" I said sharply.

"You seemed kinda pissed."

"No I'm fine." I said flatly.

Paul was looking between me and Sam. Trying to work out what might have happened.

"Here, this is Jug's number." - Jared said handing me a slip of paper. He was doing the same thing as Paul and he seemed a little worried.

"So that mustang was his?"

"Yep."

"Nice ride. Thanks for the number."

I turned to face Sam.

"Anything else almighty Alpha?"

Despite my best efforts to not snap at him, I did. He winced at my tone and said.

"No cos, you can go home."

I nodded and made my way over to my bike. I could hear the guys asking Sam what happened.

"What was that about?" - Jared

"What happened to you guys out there?" - Paul

"I've never seen him like that." - Embry

"He's a little upset right now." - Sam

"What is he upset about?" - Jared

"I can't tell you guys that just yet but I will soon enough."

I din't want to hear anymore so I switched my bike on. I backed up slowly until I was in front of the house. I waved at them and I sped off. I didn't realize I was going at an insane speed until I noticed I was about halfway to my house. I slowed down just a bit so I could clear my head before I made it there. When I pulled up my grandma's car was parked out front right next to my mom's. This should be fun I thought sarcastically.

I rode the bike all the way to the shed. I shut it off about a few feet away so I could walk it in. After I put it in park, I pulled the tarp over it and stepped outside to lock the shed. I sprinted to the back door and walked in. My mom and grandma were sitting near the kitchen table. I walked over to my grandma and kissed her cheek.

"Hey grandma."

"How did it go?" she asked.

"How did what go? I asked genuinely confused.

"I filled her in." - Mom

I walked over to her and kissed her cheek before I went to the fridge to get some water. When I went to sit down at the table they were both looking at me expectantly.

"The good news is" I started to say. "Despite being shocked, Sam took it very well."

"The bad news?" - Mom

"He wants me to tell Billy and Jacob."

"When?" - Grandma.

"In a few days. I asked him to give me sometime to tell the two of you."

It was quiet for a long minute. My grandma started to speak

"I'm not upset about this Thomas. And you know what I regret and what I don't."

I nodded.

"Do you know the outcome?" - Mom

"Jacob will be a little laxed about it. He'll think it's cool to have another person in the pack that he's related to."

"And Billy?" - Grandma

"His outcome is fuzzy. I've seen him angry, I've seen him in denial, but above all he'll be hurt."

"Oh." Was all they managed to say.

"He won't hold anything against you grandma. He'll be more hurt that his dad would do something like that. Your friends on the other hand..."

"Yes?" she asked

"Some won't talk to you for awhile, some won't look at you the same, and some won't care. If they find out that is."

"If they were really my friends they wouldn't do what you say they are gonna do. And what do you mean _if_ they find out?"

"Well, Billy will want to keep it quiet, keep it between those involved. But some members of the pack might let it slip to their parents."

They both nodded.

"I'll ask Sam to order them to not mention it to anyone. He won't like that too much but he understands the gravity of this so..."

They nodded in understanding. They could tell I didn't wanna talk about this anymore.

"Are you hungry?" - Grandma

"Oddly enough, no." I said laughing.

"Ok."

She got out of her seat and made her way up to me. She kissed my forehead and pulled me into a hug.

"It'll be alright."

_I hope so_ I thought.

"I know grandma."

She left the kitchen and headed towards her bedroom. Me and mom sat there for what felt like five minutes before she got up to leave.

"Don't worry so much."

She kissed my forehead and left. I sat there for at least 20 minutes before I got up to go to my room. All I know is it's gonna be a rough week.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~TWO DAYS LATER~~~~~~~~~~~~

SAM POV

For the past few days everyone has been bugging me. Trying to ask me what was going on between me and T.J. I told them we would discuss it later. Right now me and T.J. are heading over to Billy Black's house. The tension between me and him was really starting to get uncomfortable. He kept telling me he wasn't mad at me, but when we tried to talk further he would shut down.

"For the last time cos, I'm not mad at you."

I looked over at him briefly and frowned.

"How did-"

"You had the same look on your face when you asked me the first five times."

"Oh." Was all I could manage to say. Everyone was right, he was too observant.

"It's comforting to know that you're worried about me, but after the fifth time it get's annoying."

"Well I started getting more worried when you wouldn't talk to me."

"I was thinking about how to approach this. I'm pretty sure ' Hi uncle Billy, you don't know me very well and you're probably wondering why I just called you uncle. That's because your dad had a one night stand with my grandma and my father was the by product of it' is a pretty shitty way to approach it."

I tried my best not to chuckle but it didn't work. He glared at me for a second.

"I see my pain amuses you." he said seriously while looking ahead.

I stopped instantly. I felt like shit for a bit before I became confused because he started laughing.

"Oh man the look on your face was priceless."

"I see my regret amuses you." I said trying to act serious. It didn't work well because he rolled his eyes.

"Acting is definitely not your forte. Don't quit your day job cousin."

"And what would that be?"

"Alpha and father to us immature children." he said with a grin.

"Is this some crack about my age?"

"Why, what ever do you mean?" he said with fake innocence.

This time I rolled my eyes.

"Whatever."

We remained quiet until we pulled up to Billy's house.

"Ready?" I asked him.

"As I'll ever be."

T.J. POV

To say I was nervous would be the understatement of the frickin' century. Here I am about to tell a man that I'm his nephew from a brother he never knew he had. Hopefully the worse thing he says is to get out of his house. And hopefully Jake went out for a run. Unfortunately, he was in his makeshift garage. He came out after he heard Sam's truck. I swear my luck is almost as bad as Bella's. Almost.

"Hey Guys."

"Hey Jake." Me and Sam said it at the same time. We turned to eachother and laughed.

"So what's up?"

I suddenly lost the ability to speak. Thankfully Sam spoke for the both of us.

"We're here to see Billy."

"Pack stuff?" He asked.

Sam shook his head.

"No it's more...personal. We'll fill you in after."

He looked at both of us and nodded reluctantly.

"I'll see you after."

With that he went back to his garage. Me and Sam walked over to the front door. Sam knocked three times before we hear someone yell, "It's open!" Sam turned the door knob and swung the door open. Billy was near the T.V. watching some basketball game. It amazes me how there is always something sports related on T.V.

"Hey Sam." said Billy while holding out his hand. Sam took it and said.

"Hey Billy. This is Thomas, one of the new members of our pack."

Billy turned to look at me. He held out his hand and I shook it.

"Nice to meet you Thomas."

"Nice to meet you Mr. Black."

"Please call me Billy." he said with a smile.

"Nice to meet you Billy."

I was surprised that I found my voice again. Maybe this won't be as hard as I thought.

"So what can I do you for?" he asked.

"There's something important that needs to be discussed." - Sam

"The Cullens giving you grief?" he asked.

I held back the frown that would've formed on my head. Why do people here always assume the worse about them?

"No they've been...good." Sam said. It sounded like he didn't believe what he said.

"Ok." Billy said unsure of how to take that.

"We're here to talk about my lineage." I said breaking up what ever akward silence that could've started.

"Ok have a seat." Billy said gesturing to the couch. Me and Sam both took a seat.

"So what do you want to tell me?"

"Well, so far everyone knows that I am a direct descendant of Levi Uley."

"Levi was a good man." he said.

"You met him?" I asked.

"Yeah. I saw all of them actually. When I was a kid I saw them as wolves."

My eyes widened to point where I thought they would pop out of my head.

"How come you never said anything?" I asked Sam.

"Because you never asked." he said chuckling.

"Wow." Was all I could manage to say.

"I'll tell all about it sometime. But I believe you were about to tell me something?"

"Yes. Um, they know that much about my lineage. But they don't know that I am also related to Ephraim Black."

I paused for a second. I wanted to let that sink in for a second. I also wanted him to ask any questions if he needed. He stayed silent and nodded as if to say 'go on'.

"It's not so shocking I guess. I mean Leah, Seth, Quil, Jared, and Collin are related to him as well. But I am _directly_ related to him not _distantly_."

He stayed quiet for a minute before he asked.

"What is your last name?"

"Matthews."

"Are you Jason's boy?"

"Yes."

"He was a nice man."

"Thank you."

"So...I have a feeling about what you're trying to tell me. But I want you the finish before I say anything."

With that I continued. I told him everything. From the fight my grandma had with her boyfriend, to the one night stand. I told him about what happened to my dad. I paused in between ever now and again to gage his reaction. He remained quiet and his expression was unreadable. After I was done I hung my head and waited for the storm to hit.

"Huh." Was all he said.

I looked up at him and my eyes almost bugged again. He didn't have an angry or hurt expression. He had one of relief. Who could be relieved by this confession?

"I've always wondered...if it was possible for your dad to be my brother..."

Me and Sam held our breath. Waiting for him to continue.

"See, my father wasn't always a good liar...but somehow he convinced my mother that he just passed out somewhere..."

His tone was slightly resentful when he mentioned his old man.

"I knew he did something I just didn't know what...I never questioned it because it could hurt possibly my mother..."

He paused for a second.

"When I saw your dad for the first time...I just had this sinking feeling that he was my brother... But I couldn't question it because my father died from a heart attack..."

He paused again and took in a shaky breath. He looked at me square in the eye.

"I want you to know that I don't hold any ill will towards you or your family...But I would like some time to process this...and some time to tell my family the news."

"Take all the time you need Billy." Said Sam.

I nodded in agreement.

"Well uh, we better leave you to it." I said for the first time in a few minutes.

I got up and held my hand out. I didn't think he would take but I'm glad he did.

"I'll see you around Thomas."

"Like wise Billy."

I all but bolted out of the house and into the front yard. Seconds later Sam strolled out.

"You alright?"

"More or less." I said slightly detached from this conversation.

"Told ya it would be alright." he said with a small smile.

I tried smiling back but I frowned instead.

"What?" he asked.

"Do you hear anything?"

There was a pause before he spoke.

"No it's quiet."

"And this doesn't bother you?"

"Should it?" He asked eying me warily.

"Jake was working in his shop. I'm pretty sure working on a car or bike is not supposed to be this quiet."

_I should know, I'm around mechanics almost all the time._ I thought.

He frowned for a second then made his way over to Jake's garage. I followed right behind him. When we got there Jake was no where to be seen and one of the bikes was gone. I looked around and found his foot prints right next to some bike tracks. I followed them them and they lead all the way to the main road. Crap! I should have kept my eye on him. I thought we would have another day before he brought Bella here.

"10 bucks says he's headed to Forks." I said turning to Sam.

"Why?"

"Oh I don't know, just to grab a certain someone." I said nonchalntly. We knew about her coming before but she hasn't been back. Jake said something about her 'bloodsucker' not letting her come over. I kinda get why Edward was...protective but he doesn't really give us enough credit.

He frowned in cofusion before realization hit him like a ton of bricks.

"He wouldn't." He said angrily.

"Of course he would. Are you sure he didn't imprint on her?" Stupid question I know but still I needed to make small talk.

"Do you think we would let her be around _them _if that was the case?" He spat.

_Wow he really doesn't like them huh?_ I thought.

"Whoa there slappy, forget to take your chill pill today?"

He glared at me for a second before his face softened a little.

"Sorry it's just...I don't know what to do with him."

I shrugged.

"Is there anything you can do besides making him your slave?"

He shook his head.

"And we can't do much about her. She has the shittiest luck in the world, but she seems nice enough." I said.

"Why did it have to be them?...and why her?" He muttered mostly talking to himself.

"Look, if they're as bad as you think they are, wouldn't they have done something 'evil' by now?" I put my hands up to put air quotes around the word evil.

He started glaring at me again before he spoke.

"I guess so." He admitted reluctantly.

"And why do you hate Bella?" Again I needed to make small talk.

"Wha- I don't hate her. I just don't...get her."

"You mean how she could choose them so easily?"

"Yeah."

I shrugged.

"Who knows what goes on in that little head of hers." Because lord knows why Edward can't.

"I just hope he doesn't start something that we'll have to finish."

"Jeez give the boy some credit."

"I suppose." He said. His features a lot softer.

"The worse thing that could happen is they fight and she doesn't come around for a while." Which is what's gonna happen.

"How is that the worse thing that can happen?" he asked.

"Oh sorry, I meant for Jake."

"Ah."

"Well lets wait and see what happens. Don't worry so much, you'll get wrinkles." I said smacking his shoulder. "Or is that what you want?" I asked seriously.

"Stop making cracks about my age." He said trying to act serious but I could tell he was joking.

"Look at it this way, the sooner you retire, the sooner you can get all shriveled up." I said laughing.

He laughed for a second but it was forced.

"You don't want to retire?" I asked.

"No I do, believe me I do."

"But?"

"I want Jacob to take his rightful place. I don't want to pass it on to anyone else. It wouldn't fair to them."

I nodded.

"Come on I'll drive you home." he said

"Ok. Is it cool if I stop by later to check on Jake? Just in case?"

"I don't see why not. Just don't bug Billy."

"Of course."

We made our way back to his truck and he drove me home. My grandma was the only one home so I filled her in. She, like me, was surprised by Billy's reaction. She excited by the prospect of getting close to him. She hopes I can learn more about that side of the family and in turn, Billy can learn more about his brother.

~~~~~~~~~~4 HOURS LATER~~~~~~~~~

I debated on whether I should walk, run or ride my bike back to Jake's. I chose to run since it would be faster and a little quieter. When I got close to his house I could hear Jake in his garage. I phased back and got dressed as quickly as possible. When I got there I could hear him flying tools around.

"How could I be so stupid?" He roared.

"Uh Jake?"

The noise stopped. I could hear his foot steps heading towards me. I braced myself for his anger. He opened the door, and by the look on his face I thought he would have yelled at me. But when he saw me, his angry look was replaced by a pained one.

"Hey Teej."

"Hey Jake...how goes things?"

He chuckled darkly.

"Oh everything is just peachy." he said sarcastically.

"So...how was forks...and Bella?"

He stared at me wide eyed before he spoke.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Cut the shit Jake, I know that's where you went."

"How?"

"Well after me and Sam talked to your dad we noticed you weren't here. We also noticed the tire tracks and foot prints that lead to the main road."

"That doesn't explain how you know where I went. I could've taken my bike for a test run."

"Why would you have to? You've had these bikes in top condition for awhile now. Surely test runs wouldn't be needed."

I paused to let him rebuke what I said if wanted to. When he didn't I continued.

"And if it was just a test run, you wouldn't feel the need to sneak away from your own house. Besides I can still smell her. Her scent is fading fast so she must have left awhile ago."

I inhaled deeply.

"Smells a little bitter...did you piss her off?"

He glared at me.

"It was a fair question."

"Yeah I did. But how could she...I mean why..."

"What did she do?"

"It's not what she did it's what she's going to do. She's going to let that fucking leech take her life!"

"Let me guess, you proclaimed your disaproval of this plan?"

He nodded.

"She probably said it was none of your business, and you said something that she took offense extreme to?"

He nodded again.

"What did you say exactly?"

"I said I would rather she'd be dead. And I wished she was."

This time I glared at him. I knew he was gonna say it to her but hearing it from him like this just irritated me.

"Wow. Way to make a girl feel special." I said sarcastically while holding my glare. He glared right back.

"Don't glare at me Jacob, I'm not the one who wished death on my best friend because I didn't agree with their choice. That fuck up belongs to you not me."

He still held his glare until he hung his head.

"I know. I tried calling her but she wasn't home. She must be with _them_." he sneered.

"Look, just let her cool off for a bit. Try again later and do your best to be civil."

He snorted.

"Can't make any promises."

"No one's asking you to. But seriously, rein in your wolf. You control him, not the other way around."

I was trying my best to say 'keep yourself in check' without actually saying that. I didn't want to piss him off more by saying I didn't think he lacked control. Unfortunately, he wasn't sure how to take that so he just nodded.

"What did you talk to my dad about?" he asked.

"He didn't tell you?"

"No. I never asked."

"He'll tell you soon. He's just probably trying figure out how he should approach it."

"Can't you just tell me?"

"He asked us not to."

He groaned.

"It's not bad is it?"

"Depends on how you look at it."

"Well that's helpful." he murmered.

"You gonna be ok?"

"I guess."

"Take it easy Jake."

"You too."

I headed towards the woods not to phase, but to walk. I didn't want anyone catching my thoughts about what Jake would do next. Like sneaking out to go get the scent of the intruder. Or getting over worked by Sam for two weeks. Then there's the kiss if you could call it that. I was really hoping I was wrong about that, still am actually. But seeing him like that today doesn't help me feel sure. I really hope he doesn't do that because I'll have to avoid trying to hit him. You see, back when me and Kim were 12 she had this...admirer of sorts. Ok he was borderline stalker but back to the point. He kept trying to talk to her but she would always dismiss him. He would invite her over to his house and she would always decline.

**FLASHBACK**

I was walking out of the hallway to head out for recess. Kim was supposed to meet me near the entrance but she wasn't there. I turned around so I could scan the area. I found her near with her back against the wall and the idiot in front of her.

"Come on Kimberly, you know you want to."

"Please just leave me alone." she pleaded.

"All I'm asking is to have one kiss and I'll leave you alone."

She just shook her head.

I tried to get there sooner, but a crowd formed around them. What I saw next was pretty disgusting. He practically pounced on her. He used both his hands to hold her face so he could kiss her. She tried to fight back but he wouldn't let go. When I got through I didn't hesitate. I rushed over to him and grabbed his hair. He yelped and staggered back. I let him go and he just stared at me.

"What is your-"

He didn't finish the sentence because I punched him straight in the nose.

"What was that for?" he wailed.

"For messing with Kim."

"It's none of your business." he retorted.

"My friend, my business." I countered.

He tried to tackle me but I side stepped and tripped him. He got up and tried again but one of the teachers came and broke it up.

"Alright that's enough! Everyone not involved leave. You two come with me."

**END FLASHBACK**

As punishment we both had to clean the erasers from the classrooms. He had to do for two weeks I only had to do one. Thanks to Kim, the principal lightened my punishment. Citing that sticking up for my friend was noble, but my methods were uncalled for. That dumbass never went near Kim anymore. I really hope Jake doesn't do that but I'm not holding my breath.


	8. Time To Party

T.J. POV

When Jake brought Bella over to the rez, they seemed to be on good terms. And apart from a few jibes at her realationship with the Cullens, mostly from Paul, she seemed to feel right at home. I noticed around the circle that almost everyone felt the same. Well almost everyone. I felt bad for Leah when old Quil kept going on about the _sons_ taking on the _burden_ of protecting the reservation. Burden? Having this link to our ancestors is a burden? Wow, what a croc. I wasn't the only one who felt that way. Seth, Collin, Brady, and Quil Jr. felt the same way to.

I mean we all like the small sense of freedom. It's absolutely exhilirating. But being bound by rules and feeling everything that we feel, hearing eachother's thoughts etc. I can see how it gets annoying, but this is an honor not a burden.

When Jacob told Sam about going over to Bella's house, he took as well as you could expect.

**FLASHBACK**

_What the hell were you thinking?_ -Sam

_I was thinking that I could help my friend._ -Jacob

_It could have been a trap._

_True. But it wasn't and I got the leeches scent. Teej, can you see if I missed anything?_

_Sure._ I said and I inhaled deeply.

_Hmm_

_Well?_ - Jacob

_Whoever was there, was just there to observe and gather intel._

_How do you know?_ - Sam

_There's no bitterness so this person-_

_Leech_ - Jacob

Person_ wasn't there to be aggressive, there's nothing sweet about it so they weren't friendly either. You said there's a few things missing from her house?_

_Yeah a blouse and one of her pillow cases._

_Things with her scent._

_Yeah. Do you think it's a tracker?_

_It's possible. What do the Cullens think?_

_They don't know who it is either. The psychic leech didn't see who it was because she's been tracking Victoria and the Leechy mafia._

_So what do we do Sam?_ - Me

_For now, Jacob will be handling things until I'm convinced other wise._

_Wait what?_ - Jacob

_You heard me. You volunteered your services, you deal with it._

_Fine._

**END FLASHBACK**

That was almost two weeks ago. The big "kiss" happened four days ago and for the most part, he got shit for it.

**FLASHBACK**

Jake popped in to give us some updates. He replayed what he said and what he did. He even showed us her and Edward's reaction.

_Way to go dumbass. I don't even care for her but I'm glad she did something. What the fuck is wrong with you?_ - Leah

_Jeez Jake couldn't you have least let her make the first move?_ - Jared

_Honestly bro what were you thinking?_ - Quil

_He wasn't thinking at all._ - Me

_Fuck off._ - Jake

_Why? You came to gloat and just because you didn't the reception you were hoping for doesn't mean this convo is over._ - Me

_I said fuck off._ - Jake

_Between wishing death upon her and forcing her to kiss you, the only thing left for you to do is sneak in to her house and try to fuck her into oblivion._ - Me

He growled at me.

_Calm down everyone. Sheesh! Look bro kissing someone who is already involved..._ - Embry

_Don't even go there!_ - Jake

_With someone else is just plain stupid. I get that you like her..._

_I'm in love with her_

Embry rolled his eyes.

_Whatever, but it's clear that she would rather be just friends._

_For now_

_Forever. -_ Me

_Why do you care so much? This is between me, her, and that filthy bloodsucker._

_If it was just between the three of you, why did you feel the need to gloat about it? Besides, it wouldn't be the first time I would have to deal with someone who pulled this kinda shit._

_What the hell are you going on about?_

_Doesn't matter. Do it again and I'll make sure no one will want to kiss you._

He snorted

_You would do that to me cousin? Why I'm hurt._

There was a pause.

_What do you mean_ cousin? - Embry

_Yeah me, Jared, Collin, Leah and Seth are your cousins. He's Sam's cousin remember?_ - Quil

_Oh I remember but he's also my cousin. Right Thomas?_

I paused.

_So Billy did tell you._

_Yep. I was kinda jazzed really. Well until all this shit happened._

I sighed. I showed them what happened with Kim when we were younger. From the beginning all the way up to the principal's office. When I was done I could hear Jared growling.

_Who the fuck was that?_ - Jared

_No one._ - Me

_Don't give me that shit!_

_It doesn't matter Jared he's gone. He moved up north to the Makah rez about 3 years ago._

_Lucky bastard. - _Leah

_Anyway...that's why I care Jake. This situation is not entirely the same but it's close enough. You did something she didn't want to do and now you will pay the price._

He sighed

_I know it's just...why him? He left her and came bac-_

_I'm pretty sure she went to get him._ - I countered.

_Whatever. And now she won't even admit she has feelings for me._

_Look remember when I said rein in your wolf?_

_Yeah I had no idea what you meant by that._

_Figures. The translation for that is: Down Boy._

Everyone laughed.

_You have feelings for her we get it. But doing shit like that will only push her away. This is not me giving you advice on how to win her back. This is me telling you to give her space and let her decide._

_Fine._

_I mean it Jake. Let her decide._

_Sure, sure._

**END FLASHBACK**

Right now though, I'm starting part of my ridiculously big tattoo. There is six black rectangular symbols around the bottom of my wolf tattoo. Bellow that, is a broken black strip, with triagular edges, which groove to make a zig zag pattern. Surrounding that are two triangle's with eight lines that curve towards the end and come back to one of the points. They resemble feathers.

"Part one is done. You can move now brah." - Jug

"Thanks braddah."

"No worries. So when do you wanna do the next part?"

"Don't know. When are you free again?"

"I got a few clients over the next week or so. Simple stuff, y'know roses, crosses, things of that nature. After that I'm clear for two weeks."

"Alright let's do it."

"Sounds good."

He went to get antiseptic and wash cloth but I stopped him.

"I don't need that."

"Huh?"

"I said I don't need that. Quick healer remember?"

"It's not for your benefit, it's for mine."

"How so?"

"It's just in case someone who is not in the know happens to stop by. Wouldn't want them to think that I'm being irresponsible now would we?"

"Ah, I see."

He wiped away all the blood and excess ink then he starting packing his things.

"I'll see you in a week." he said and he held out his hand.

"Thanks." I said and I shook his hand. I walked outside and I saw Sam and Jacob talking.

"Come on Sam I was invited."

"No Jacob, it's too risky to go by yourself."

"Then what if I take Embry and Quil with me?"

"They could see that as a threat."

"I'll just stop by, drop off my gift, apologize, and leave. What's wrong with that?"

"I don't know Jacob. I barely trust them and you three would be on edge and something could happen."

I decided to interrupt.

"What's going on?"

They both turned to look at me. Jacob spoke first.

"Teej, you gotta help me out here."

"Ok, with what?"

"You see, Bella invited me to her graduation party and-"

"I thought you got uninvited?" I interrupted.

"What do you mean uninvited?"

"I'm pretty sure her punching you was her way of uninviting you." I said chuckling.

He rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. I just wanna apologize but Sam won't let me go."

"Well it is risky, especially if you go with two other people. But something tells me that you would do it anyway."

Sam growled.

"Look, if you're adamant about doing this, I'll go with you guys."

Both of them stared at me wide eyed. Sam looked like he was about to pop a blood vessel. I decided to keep talking.

"Look at it this way Sam, there's strength in numbers. And since I have better control than these three clowns, I'll act as the resposible adult. They fuck up, and it's my ass."

Sam still looked pissed but his resolve was wavering. He sighed.

"Against my better judgement, I'll alow it. But I'm warning the both of you right now, if you do something that starts a war with the Cullens, I'll kill you myself."

I nodded and Jacob rolled his eyes again.

"So when is it?" I asked Jacob.

"Monday."

"Ok you better tell the others and see if they're up for it."

He nodded and took off into the forest. Sam was still looking at me.

"What?"

"I still don't feel comfortable with this...idea. However I trust your judgement so when you go on to Cullen land, you will be my second. You will act as my Beta."

I stared at him wide eyed. I shook my head slowly.

"Jacob is-"

"He's not thinking straight right now. And you said it yourself, you have better control than the three of them. It's only temporary Thomas, it's not something you need to commit to for life."

"You sure? That's a lot of power you're giving me."

"I'm positive. I trust you, you should start trusting yourself."

I nodded.

"Well, I should go break the news to the others."

"What news?" - Quil

We both turned to him. I guess we were so engrossed in our conversation that we didn't hear him approaching.

"Oh have you talked to Jake yet?" I asked.

He shook his head.

"Well he wants to go to Bella's graduation party at the Cullens. Sam's allowing it as long as he doesn't go alone."

"Ok. I'm guessing Jake's gonna ask me and Em to go with him?"

"Yeah...and I'm coming with all of you. I'll be acting as...Beta for the night." I grimaced when I said that. Bad enough I can see the future I don't need any more power. Quil jumped back in surprise.

"Really?"

"Really really." I said nodding.

"Wow. I'll uh go look for Jake and tell him about...the recent development."

"You do that."

"Later."

"Later."

I heaved a sigh. Hopefully everything that's supposed to happen, happens. No more distribution of power.

~~~~~~~~MONDAY 7:45~~~~~~~

I thought Jake would've thrown a bitch fit when he found out about Sam's decision. To my surprise though, Jake took the news pretty well. He said as long as he got to go he didn't care. We we're all in Jake's rabbit heading up to the Cullen's mansion. Jake was driving of course, Quil was in the passenger seat, and me and Embry were in the back. When we got close to the driveway, it looked like half of Forks got invited. When Jake put the car in park, we caught the eye of the other arriving guest.

"Who are they?"

"Isn't that the indian kid that wanted to fight Edward Cullen?"

"He brought friends this time."

"You sure they're friends? they all look like they're related. Except the one with the green eyes, he doesn't look anything like them."

If we were still human, we wouldn't have caught that. I guess it didn't help that Jake was leading the way with Quil, and Embry at his flanks. Jake was relaxed while Quil and Embry were tense flexing their hands trying to keep calm. I was right behind them helping them form a diamond of sorts.

"Calm down you two." I said.

"We can't." - Embry.

"The wolf in us is just itching to fight." - Quil.

"If you two can't handle it go wait in the car. We've already drawn too much attention."

"Don't worry we'll be fine." - Jake.

"If you say so." Quil muttered.

When we pulled up to the door Jacob pushed the doorbell and it rang. If we were human we wouldn't have caught it but we heard someone say "who invited the werewolf?" I guess she could only smell one of us. About 3 minutes later, the door open with the danger magnet herself on the other side. Bella Swan. She glared at Jacob but her eyes practically popped out of her head when she saw the rest of us.

"What are you doing here Jacob?" she asked. I could smell the anger coming off of her.

"I came to say congrats on graduating."

"Ok you did. Now goodbye."

She tried to slam the door, but Jake caught it and pushed it back. She wasn't prepared so she wobbled back a little.

"Jacob" I warned.

"She's fine."

He walked in and tried to talk to her. Quil and Embry were blocking the front door and I couldn't get in.

"Are you bozo's gonna stand here all night or are you gonna let me in?"

"Oh sorry Teej." - Embry

They both moved to let me pass. I took about three steps before I turned my attention back to them.

"Are you coming?"

They both shook their heads.

"Either you come in here and mingle with the humans, or you can go wait in the car. Decide. Now." I growled.

They flinched a little. They both came in and looked around.

"Well the music's decent." - Quil

"Yeah some of the guests don't look so bad either." - Embry

I glanced around and most of the girls were gawking at us. Their dates/boyfriends were less than enthused. They were either giving us death glares or shooting daggars at us. One girl, who was all by her lonesome, was practically undressing Embry with her eyes. I leaned closer to him and said.

"Babe at 3 o'clock is eyeball fucking you."

He followed my line of sight and smirked.

"She's hot."

"Well go mingle but don't do anything stupid. That's an order."

"Don't worry I'll play nice."

"You better. Same goes for you Quil mingle but nothing over the top."

"Got it." he said

I had to push myself through a sea of people to get anywhere near Jake. He was trying to talk to Bella but she was looking for Alice.

"I have to find Alice. I need to talk to her." she said.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Nothing."

"You're lying."

She bit her bottom lip. Trying to decide whether or not to spill some secret she has. The little pixie danced her way over to them and tried get Bella away from Jake. I made my way over when Jake started getting aggressive.

"What do you know?" He ground out.

"It's none of your business dog." she hissed.

"The hell it isn't lee-"

He didn't get to finish that sentence because Jasper appeared right in front of him.

"Unless you have a death wish, I highly suggest you refrain from talking to my wife like that _mutt_." He said with a heavy drawl, making his accent more pronounced. I went to stand in front of Jacob before he could reply.

"Look we didn't come here to fight. Jacob just came to say hi to Bella."

His eyes flickered to me then back to Jacob.

"Well he said his hello, now it's time to say goodbye."

"No w-"

Jacob didn't get to finish that sentence because I stepped on his foot. He groaned and I could feel his eyes burning in to my skull. I took my eyes off of Jasper for a second to look behind.

"Shut up jacob, you already caused one scene do not start another!" I hissed in a whisper. My eyes went back to Jasper's face. "Jasper right?"

He nodded once.

"Look, whatever has all of you on edge must be big correct?"

He nodded again.

"And whatever it is must be headed this way right?" I asked Alice.

She nodded reluctantly.

"I know we haven't always been...cordial to each other, but you and your family are not the only ones who have a stake in this."

"So what are you trying to say?" he asked.

"Would it be possible to speak to your father? In private? I'm not the Alpha but I am his Beta." _For tonight at least_ I added mentally.

They seemed sligtly confused by this.

"Why do you want to talk to Carlisle?"

"Because like I said you're not the only ones who have a stake in this. Besides the sooner we talk the sooner the humans will stop wondering if we're going to fight."

His eyes flickered around the room as did Alice's. They must have seen enough to consider it because he said.

"Meet us near the stairs in 2 minutes. We need to give the others a heads up. You should warn your..."

"Brothers?"

"Yes. Your _brothers_."

"Will do."

He and Alice towed Bella along to the kitchen. I turned to Jake who was giving me his death glare.

"What the hell are you doing?" he seethed.

"It's called being diplomatic. Obviously your approach wasn't working so I had to step in. Now go get Embry. He's with one of the local girls so be careful."

"What about Quil?"

"Right here." He said "I thought you guys would have been throwing down."

"You _thought_ we would or were you hoping we _would_?" I asked.

"Ok I was hoping for it."

I just shook my head at him.

"Anyway, Jake, go get Embry."

He just stared at me.

"Now." I ordered.

"Fine."

"Come on Quil, let's wait by the stairs."

It wasn't as difficult to get passed people but it was annoying when all the girls would throw themselves at us. Saying things like "do you come here often?" or "are you seeing anyone?" shit like that. Me and Quil got to the stairs about 10 seconds before Jake and Embry. Jake looked slightly annoyed, same as Embry.

"This better be good. She would have given Missy a run for her money!"

"Do you even know her name?" I asked.

"Yeah. It's Claudia and she was just so..."

"Don't even finish that. In fact, none of you will say anything unless you're spoken to or if you have something decent to contribute. For the most part I'll do the talking."

They all stared at me blankly.

"I mean it. I want this to go as smoothly as possible. I mean you guys want to know what it is right?"

They nodded.

"It could be something to do with all the deaths in Seattle." Quil suggested.

"True, could be another coven or nomads that just won't move on." Jake said.

"Whatever it is, it's coming here." I said.

"How do you know?" asked Embry.

"Because that's what Alice said."

"Who?" - Quil

"The pixie looking one."

"Ah."

About a minute later Jasper, Alice, Bella, Carlisle and Esme approached us. Carlisle greeted us with a warm smile.

"Hello. I understand you wish to speak with me?"

"Yes, Dr. Cullen we do." I said.

"Please, call me Carlisle."

"Alright Carlisle, is there some place private where we can discuss this...issue?"

"Of course, we could use my study."

I moved aside and held my arm out towards the stairs.

"After you."

He and Esme walked past us to lead the way. I made Jake, Quil, and Embry walk ahead of me. Jasper, Alice, and Bella brought up the rear. Let's hope this works out.

CARLISLE POV

I was cautiously optimistic about this meeting with the young Quileute wolves. This meeting could possibly serve as a catalyst that could...ease the tension between our families. Three of them were moving stiffly while one of them was moving calmly. He doesn't look like the others but there is something familiar about him. I opened the doors to my study and walked over to my desk. My wife was right by my side. The four boys filed in to the room and moved on to my right. Jasper, Alice, and Bella were on my left. Seconds later, Edward, Rosalie and Emmett came in.

"What are _they_ doing here?" Rosalie hissed.

"Not now Rose." My wife warned.

The young man I spoke to a moment ago, walked over to my daughter. He stood right in front of her and cocked his head to the side.

"What do you want fleabag?"

"Rosalie!" I warned.

"It's fine Carlislie." The young man said. "I was just curious is all. It amazes me that someone so gorgeous, someone whose scent is that of strawberries, could be anything less than pleasant." Rose pulled her lips back to bare her teeth at the boy. If Emmett didn't grab her she would've lunged at him. He stepped away from Rosalie and turned to face me. "I don't think I introduced myself properly." He walked over to me and held his hand out. A few snarls and hisses came from my family. His pack mates all tensed up at his gesture. "My name is Thomas."

I closed the gap between us and shook his hand. By doing that the opposite happened, his brothers started growling and my family tensed up.

"Nice to meet you Thomas."

"We've met before actually. It was in the beginning of the year before I turned 18. I didn't look as...mature as I do now."

I pondered this for a second. He could be the boy whose shoulder I had to pop back in. His face is different but his eyes haven't changed one bit.

"Were you the boy that fell down those stairs and dislocated your shoulder?"

"That would be me." he said with a smile.

"So that's where I know you from. Your mother works at the hospital doesn't she?"

"Yes she does. I'm bringing this up because I thought we could...lighten the mood before we get to the heavy stuff. I wanted to thank you for that."

"There's no need I'm just doing my job."

He sighed.

"I suppose it's time for the heavy stuff. Does whatever that has you all on edge have to do with what's going on in Seattle?"

"Yes it does."

"What is it? Nomads? A Coven trying to lay claim to the territory?"

"No I'm afraid it's much worse than that, it's an army."

"An army of vampires?" One of the other boys asked.

"Yes newborns."

"Newborns?" Thomas asked.

"It's what we call a recently turned vampire."

"How many are we looking at?"

"At least twenty." Alice said.

"That's not an army." The lankier wolf said.

"It's different with newborns, you don't need thousands like a human army. A handful of them will do." Jasper said.

"What makes them so special?" Thomas asked.

"Our kind is never more powerful physically, than in the first few months of this exsitstance." I said.

"Why?"

"Their human blood lingers in their tissue's."

Thomas nodded in understanding but the other wolves were confused.

"You wanna run that by me again?"

Thomas sighed and turned to his brothers before he spoke.

"Vampires need to drink blood. It's what gives them sustenance, their strength, their energy is affected by how much they drink. With all that excess blood, newborns basically have a constant stream of power. It's like in the third act of Crank, when Chelios has that machine streaming an hours worth of adrenaline. You guys remember that?"

They nodded.

"Now imagine he was a vampire and it was blood being pumped into his body."

They nodded again this time in understanding.

"It's not the same but it's close enough I suppose." he said.

"Good reference." Emmett boomed.

"Thanks. So I understand that they are coming here?" he asked.

"Yes." - Alice.

"I'm guessing you had a vision that invloved this army?"

"Yes. I saw them passing around Bella's blouse." she replied.

A few hisses and growls were heard through out the room.

"Do you know what the ETA is?"

"Saturday."

He turned back to his brothers who all exchanged a glance. They all had smirks across their faces except for Thomas, his face was composed. He turned to address me this time.

"We'll have to dicuss it with our Alpha, but I'm sure he'll want in on this."

"We don't need help from you worthless do-" Rosalie tried to speak but I interrupted her.

"Enough Rosalie. Jasper what do you think?"

My southern son tapped his finger to his chin. Deciding the best possible outcome with this new idea.

"They'll give us the numbers. It will confuse the newborns, and we shouldn't have any casualties. They'll have to join us in the training session though."

"Training?" one of the boys asked.

"Yes Jasper has expirience in this area." I said.

"I take it that's where you got the scars?" Thomas asked.

"Yes."

"So where do we need to meet for this training session?" he asked.

"Go 10 miles north of the Hoh forrest ranger station. Come in from the west and you'll catch our scent." Jasper said.

"What time?"

"What's too late for you pups?" Emmett asked.

The three boys behind Thomas started growling. He held his hand up to silence them.

"What time?" he asked again.

"3 o'clock." Jasper replied.

"No!" Bella cried.

We all turned to look at her. She was trying to plead with Edward.

"You can't let them go they could die!"

The three boys started laughing. Thomas just smiled at her.

"Not to sound rude or anything, but shouldn't you be more concerned with yourself right now? I mean after all this army is after you." He said.

"My sentiments exactly." Edward said.

"I'm not selfish you know, I do care about other people." she replied.

"Selflessness is an admirable quality, I wish more humans were like that. But right now I think you could afford to be a little selfish." Thomas countered.

"Agreed." Everyone in the room said. The boys started laughing again and Emmett joined in.

"We should get going, we have a lot to discuss with our Alpha." Thomas said. He held his hand out. I walked over and shook it.

"Thank you for talking to us." he said.

"Thank you for listening." I said.

"Alright boy let's head out."

He made the three boys walk in front of him. I guess it was to make sure they didn't linger in here. The three of them went forward but Thomas stopped in his tracks. He looked over at Edward with a brow raised.

"No nothing's wrong." Edward said.

They must be having a silent conversation.

"That's interesting."

Pause.

"You're right it's not the same but it is equally annoying." Edward replied to his thought.

"Really?" he asked.

Pause.

"Thank you. You have a good night." Edward smiled.

"You as well. A good night to all of you in fact." Thomas replied and left the room.

"What was that about?" Alice asked.

"He noticed that I was staring at him the most out of all of them. Well besides Jacob of course. I haven't been able to read his mind all night except in a few instances."

"Is it similar to Bella?" I asked.

"No he's able to hide his thoughts at will. He said it was out of habit and it's not a born ability."

"Out of habit?" I asked.

"Yes. When they are in their wolf form, then can hear each others thoughts. It helps when you need to coordinate in battle. But your inner most secrets could be laid out for all to see if your not careful."

"So you have no privacy?" my wife asked.

"If you're not careful then yes."

"Sounds awful." Alice said.

"That's the down side for some of them. Thomas has been very good when it comes to that."

"Yes he's seems very in control. He must be an older werewolf." I said.

"He's younger than them actually. If you go by how long he's been a wolf."

"How long has he been a wolf?" Emmett asked.

"Two months."

"_Months_?" I asked incrediously.

"Yes."

"But he seems so...experienced."

"I agree. The others had wavering control and he didn't. The others got angry within seconds. He didn't so much as go passed being annoyed." Jasper added.

"It could have something to do with how old he is chronologically." Edward said shrugging. "The three that came with him are 16 and he is 18."

"Could be." I mused. "What else did you talk about?

"He compared his pack telepathy to me being in an a warehouse filled with people. He knows it's not the same, but he said it was probably as annoying."

I nodded. It was a decent comparison.

"Anything else?"

"Yes he told me about the scents he picked up from us."

"Probably some joke about us smelling like corpses." Rosalie snapped.

"Actually his sense of smell is different from the others. Which could also explain why they were so on edge. Anyway, he wasn't lying when he said you smelled like strawberries Rosalie."

"Really?" she asked with geniune interest.

"Yes. He's got all of our scents actually. He says Jasper smells like chewing tobacco. Alice smells like a bag of sugar."

"That would be a good reason for all that energy if she were human." Bella muttered.

We all chuckled at that. Except for Alice who just shook her head at Bella.

"You know you love me." she said.

Bella rolled her eyes and Edward continued.

"For Carlisle, it's roasted almonds. For Esme it's a garden of Lilies."

"How nice." my wife said. I had to agree with that.

"And for Emmett-"

"Let me guess," He interrupted. "It's something very manly."

"Actually he said you smell like cotton candy."

The look on Emmett's face had us all bursting at the seams with laughter.

"Lies!" he roared. That did it, we couldn't contain it anymore.

"He...thought...he...had...it...wrong." Edward said through laughter. He took a second to compose himself then he continued. "He thought for sure he was wrong. But no one else in this room had that scent."

"What about you?"

"He said I smelled like sheet music." he said with a smile.

"Is that why you said thank you?" Bella asked.

"No. He said me and my family didn't seem as bad as we've been made out to be."

I had to smile at that. If we could convince a few of them that we mean no harm, maybe the rest will see it to.

"You really shouldn't think that way Emmett," Edward started. " He was the brown wolf that stopped that grey wolf from attacking you that day near the stream."

"Really?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Did he tell you that?" I asked.

"No, Jacob was thinking about it. He was wondering how he could excerise such control around an entire coven. Then he rememberd the day Paul and Emmett fell into the stream."

"Huh. He's quick on his paws, I'll give him that." Emmett said laughing.

We didn't think it was funny.

"Aw come on that was pure gold!" he whined. He then crossed his arms and pouted.

"I guess I just figured out why the wolf said you smell like cotton candy." Jasper said.

"Oh yeah? And what's that?" he asked.

"It's because you act like a child." he said chuckling.

We all were laughing with him.

"Oh ha ha very funny. That wolf has a fucked up nose is all." he said.

"Emmett McCarty Cullen! What did I say about using that language?" My wife said as she scolded our Eldest son.

"Sorry mom." he said as he hung his head.

"Let's get back to the party. The humans are getting restless." Alice said.

"Yes let's do that. Afterwards we need to prepare for the meeting with the wolves."

They all nodded and went back to entertain our guests. They wouldn't say it out loud but everyone was hoping that this training session goes over well.


	9. Unlikely Alliance

T.J. POV

It took us awhile to convince Sam that this meeting is crucial. His...hesitancy is understandable I guess, but the looming sense of danger for the humans could not be ignored. I mean, this is our job after all.

Despite a little maliciousness from Leah, things were going smoothly. That is, until Paul opened his trap.

_I still say this is a bad idea_. - Paul

_We know that Lahote. You've been saying that for the last 20 minutes you broken record._ - Me.

_Bite me._

_No thanks. I don't think my stomach would take to kindly to me having a mouthful of asshole._

Everyone started cracking up at this.

_As funny as that is, I need all of you to be quiet._ - Sam

_Ugh I can smell them all the way out here._ - Leah.

All the others started groaning.

_How can you stand that Teej?_ - Jared

I mentally shrugged.

_My nose works differently is all._

_It's probably broken._ - Paul

_Oh shut it._

_Yes all of you shut it._ - Sam

When we entered the space the female members of the Cullen family were staring wide eyed at us. The males were staring too, but it ranged from being in awe to being cautious. I heard Edward mutter something like "They've been holding out on us." Carlisle stepped forward.

"Hello." He said.

Me and Sam Nodded.

_We are only here to observe and nothing more. That is all we can ask of our self control._ - Sam

_Speak for yourself._ - I muttered.

Sam was gonna say something but Edward started "translating".

"They'll only observe the training, they won't be apart of it."

"That's fine. My son Jasper will be in charge of this training session." He motioned for him to come over. Jasper eyed us warily but went on to speak.

"The two most important things to remember about a newborn is one, don't let them get their arms around you or they will crush you instantly. Two, is that you must keep moving forward and never go for the obvious kill. They will be expecting that and you will lose."

_Whatever scarface just get on with the training._ - Embry

_Yeah_ the others said in unison.

_Be quiet._ - Me and Sam

"Are you ready?" he asked

Me and Sam nodded.

"Emmett!" He called. Emmett strolled over and stopped about 20 paces from Jasper.

"Emmett will be our example of a newborn because of his strength-" He was about to keep going but Emmett cut him off.

"Oh yeah whose got tickets to the gun show?" he exclaimed while flexing his muscles. His wife slapped her hand to her forehead and pulled it slowly down her face. The rest of the family just shook their heads at him.

"And his lack of brain power." Jasper finished.

Emmett glared at his brother while the others chuckled. Even a few members of the pack thought it was funny.

_Burn!_ - Collin, Brady, Seth.

_Oh snap!_ - Quil

_5 Bucks says Roid rage stomps his scarred ass_. - Embry

_No way! Scarface has a history with things like this. He'll beat him before he could even take a swing at him_ - Jared.

_You're on._

_Thank god we have no casinos on the rez. You two would practically live there._ - Me

Before they could reply Jasper spoke again.

"See, newborns rely only on their strength. Their blood lust is so strong that it affects their judgement and Emmett, for the most part, acts the same way."

_All brawn and no brains._ -Leah.

_Pretty much._ - Paul.

_Wow, the pack dick and the pack bitch actually agreed on something. Hell must've froze over._ - Embry

_Shut it you bastard._ - Leah.

**_ENOUGH._** - Sam

Everyone went quiet and Jasper continued the training.

"Alright Emmett, don't hold back." Jasper said.

"Not in my nature little brother." he replied.

What happened next would have been to quick for human eyes. Emmett charged full speed at Jasper and Jasper just stood there. When Emmett was about 3 feet away Jasper side stepped to his right. He stuck his left hand forward and wrapped it around his throat. He used his grip to swing himself around to get behind Emmett. He brought both his hands to Emmett's shoulders and pulled as hard as he could. Emmett jerked back and fell to the ground.

_Damn._ - Jake, Quil, and Embry.

_Impressive._ - Me.

_See what I'd tell ya?_ - Jared.

_Best 2 out of 3._ - Embry.

Jared couldn't reply because Emmett scrambled to his feet and roared "Again!" and they wrestled for a bit. During the struggle, Emmett lost his footing and Jasper threw him about 15 feet. Emmett got up one more time, only to get knocked back down.

"Alright it's time for some variety." Jasper declared. "Carlisle, Edward, your up."

Bella visbly stiffened when Jasper mentioned Edward. He kissed her hand and made his way over to Carlisle. They stood the same length away as Jasper and Emmett did. Carlisle nodded once as did Edward and they charged forward. Carlisle slid into the ground rather harshly causing alot of dirt to fly everywhere. Edward jumped to avoid the collison and landed behind Carlisle. Carlisle sprang to his feet and ran towards Edward. He threw a right hook which Edward blocked and shoved him back. Carlisle threw a left hook this time, but Edward ducked and clipped Carlisle's knee causing him to fall back. He walked away to talk to Jasper.

"You did well Edward." Jasper stated.

"Thank-" He never finised that sentenced because Carlisle swung his leg to knock Edward down.

"Until you turned your back on your enemy." Jasper said shaking his head.

"Ew! gross Jake."

All our heads snapped in the direction in which Bella was sitting. Jake was curled up next to Bella who was covered in Slobber. When the hell did he get over there? I could feel all the tension from my pack mates. The Cullens had a varitey of reactions ranging from disgust to horror to concern.

_Jacob. What the hell do you think you're doing?_ - Sam.

_Hanging out with my friend._

_Get over here._

_Yeah Jake, stop fucking around bro._ - Embry.

_Aw come on what's the worst that could happen?_

_Besides the mind rapist ripping you to shreds?_ - Quil.

_As if you would let that happen._

_It's very tempting Jake._ -Me

_Look I'm not hurting her._

_But she is hurting you._ - Leah muttered.

_What the hell is that supposed to mean, Leah?_

_If she actually cared about you, she wouldn't be stringing you along like this._

_She's not stringing me along._

_She loves the mind reading leech. A blind person would be able to see that._

_She may not know it but she loves me too._

_But not like she loves him. She may care for you,_

Leah paused to roll her eyes.

_but you will never be in the same league as him. Get over it dumbass._

_Fuck off Clearwater what do you know about love you bitter harpy?_

The second those words came out, Jacob was trying think of ways to back track. There was a pause before Leah's rage came flooding in.

_Fuck you Jacob. Don't come crying to me when Isabitch 'I can't make up my mind ' Swan doesn't need her little lap dog anymore._

And with that she turned around and left.

_Le_- I tried to call her back but Sam stopped me.

_Let her go we'll fill her in later._

Jasper called his wife over to join him. He turned his attention to Bella.

"This is to show you that Alice isn't so fragile."

_What can she do? She barely weighs 20 pounds._ - Paul.

_Uh she can see the future_. - Me.

_Oh yeah._

Alice and Jasper didn't stand the same amount distance as the others. Jasper set himself into a crouch and Alice just stood there. He lunged at her but she was suddenly behind him. He swung at her but she ducked and cartwheeled away from him. This went on for about 2 minutes before alice jumped on Jasper's back placed a kiss on his cheek.

"That's all for tonight," Jasper started. "We'll be doing this for the next few days. You are more than welcome to join us."

_Same time?_ - Sam

"Yes. Same time." Edward answered.

_We'll be here._

_Shouldn't we get their scents? So we don't get confused? - _Jared

_Here. - _Me

I replayed the meeting we had earlier. I showed them everything I noticed and all the things I picked up.

_Just remember those I mentioned and we should be ok._

_Sounds good. Now let's go_ - Sam.

_I wanna stay and bang out a few details with the mind reader for a bit._ - Jacob

Sam glared at him.

_Go on Sam, get the boys home. I'll stay behind with Jake._ - Me.

_You sure?_

_I'm sure._

_Fine but be careful._

I nodded and Jacob just rolled his eyes. Sam lead the others back to La push and I just watched the Cullens in their small semi circle chatting away. Bella was trying to tell Jake that she was worried. He snorted.

_Why? What could possibly go wrong with this plan?_

"He wants to know why." Edward said.

"You could get hurt." was her reply. Jacob rolled his eyes again.

_So where are you putting her?_

"I'm not sure yet."

_Well you better get on it._

"I'll work it out mongrel don't worry about it." Edward snapped.

_I'll phase and leave you two alone._ - Me

I trotted deeper into the forest and phased back. Me phasing wasn't entirely for their beneit but mine as well. Unfortunately, Jacob had the same idea. I put on my shorts and emerged from the trees around the same time he did. He closed the gap between him and Edward in about 4 long strides. I stayed a safe distance from them. I was close enough that if something went wrong, I could get there in time.

"Alright bloodsucker, what could possibly be wrong with that plan?"

"I don't know, someone may get passed you."

"Then leave her La Push. We're making the younger wolves stay behind."

"She's been back and forth there too many times. Someone's bound to notice."

"I'm right here you know." Bella said sounding annoyed.

They both looked at her then back to eachother.

"All I want to know is what he's going to do with you is all." Jacob said.

"Do with me?" she asked.

"Well we can't leave you in forks love. They'll know where to look and they could get passed us." Edward said.

I could practically see the blood leave Bella's face.

"Charlie?" she squeaked.

"He'll be with my dad. If he has to commit every crime known to man, he'll do it if it means Charlie will come over. Although, it shouldn't take that much I mean it's this saturday right?" Jacob said.

"Yes it is." Edward said.

"They'll just go fishing and watch a game or something. There's always a game on T.V."

_No shit_ I thought.

Edward chuckled.

_Oh did you hear that?_ I asked in my head.

"Yes Thomas I heard that."

"Sorry." I said.

"It's fine."

"Am I missing something?" Jacob asked looking between me and Edward.

"No I was just agreeing with what you said about there always being a game being on."

"Oh." he looked back at Edward. "How bout we leave her here?" he said gesturing towards the forest and mountains.

"Her scent is too strong. Couple it with mine and they will follow. Even if I was to carry her, a tracker would be able to find us."

They both grimaced at that .

"Wait our scent disgusts you right?" Jacob asked.

"Not bad dog, not bad."

"What's not bad?" Bella asked.

"Jasper?" Edward called.

Jasper and Alice walked over to them.

"Go ahead Jacob." Edward said

Jacob looked at Bella and held his arms out.

"We're going to see if my scent can mask yours."

She frowned at him.

_Is this really a good idea?_ I asked Edward mentally. He just shrugged.

"Don't be such a baby, Bella." Jacob said and practically yanked her off the ground.

"Watch it Jacob." I warned. He ignored me and waited for Edward to say something.

"Jasper, I was wondering if you could try and catch Bella's scent like this. I would do it but she's to potent for me, it would be more fair if someone else did it."

"Sure." He turned to Jacob and said. "Go on boy. Get."

Jacob glared at him but took off into the forest. He entered from a different part of the forest about 3 minutes later. Jasper and Alice went in the direction he went in and Jacob set Bella on her feet. She walked over to stand by Edward. Japer and Alice came back and Jasper declared.

"Nothing but wolf stench."

"It gives me an idea though" Alice said.

"That could work." Edward mused.

"It will." she said wrinkling her nose.

"What will?" Bella asked. I fell bad for her sometimes. I mean with her being the only non supernatural being around us. Hopefully she get's something cool when she becomes a vampire.

"Alice suggested that you create a false trail that leads in to the clearing. The newborns will go wild and try to come at us in waves. We'll take the first one but the second one disappears."

"Which is where we come in." Jacob said smiling.

"Exactly." Edward smiled back.

Bella looked like she was going to puke. Edward suddenly looked angry.

"No!" he said a little to loudly. I thought he was talking to Jacob but he was staring at Jasper.

"It was just a thought Edward." he said.

"One that will never come a reality." Edward snapped.

Jasper backed away and Alice followed him.

"Everything alright?" I asked. He turned to address me.

"Everything's fine. Jasper just had an idea that from a millitary stand point, is very sound. But it's not something I or anyone else would be comfortable with."

_What, did he suggest using Bella as bait?_ I asked mentally.

"More or less." he replied.

_Wow._ I thought.

"He was just being thorough. He wasn't trying be mean or anything."

I nodded.

"You girls gonna fill me in here?" Jacob asked. I just shook my head.

"I'll bring her here on friday so we can lay the false trail. Then you can take her to this place I know just up that ridge." He pointed to the north. "It's easily defensible and I'll just take another route."

"And what, leave her without a way to contact us?" Jacob asked.

"Well do you have any bright ideas?"

"I do actually." He turned to look at me. "How do you think Seth would feel about babysitting?"

I shrugged.

"It will keep him out of the fight but he'll just whine about it."

He turned to Edward and just looked at him.

"Again not bad."

Jacob turned to Bella.

"We've been trying to convince Seth to stay out of this fight. He's one of our younger members, but he's itching to fight. But I just think I found a new job for him - cell phone."

Bella nodded as if to say she understood. Too bad we didn't buy it.

"Seth will be staying in his wolf form so he'll be linked to the pack. He'll be watching you while we're in the clearing." Edward explained. He turned to Jacob. "So distance isn't a problem?"

"Nope." he answered putting emphasis on the p sound.

"It's a good idea." Edward said sounding not entirely sure he believed it himself. " I'll feel better with someone watching her. To think though, it's come to us trusting you dogs."

"Hey it's not better on our end either." Jacob started. "I mean fighting alongside parasite's instead of against them." He shook his head in disgust.

"Well you'll still get to fight some of them. Just not us."

"Killing some vamipires is better than nothing." Jacob said smiling.

I couldn't help but roll my eyes.

"As fun as it is seeing you two banter, we should really head out." The both turned to look at me. Edward seemed amused and Jacob seemed annoyed. I glanced at Jacob.

"Come on lover boy let's go home."

Jacob just glared at me.

"What's wrong cousin, did I hit a nerve?"

He stalked over to me and muttered something like "let's go you moron." I smiled at him and nodded towards to Cullens.

"Good night."

A chorus of good nights were said.

"What the hell did you say that for?" Jacob fumed.

"What? I was just kidding. Stop being so serious all the damn time."

He didn't respond, he just took off and phased. I followed suit so I could run home. We ran in silence until we got to the treaty line.

_See ya later._ - he said.

_Later._

And he phased out. I ran through the forest until I was about 1 mile from my house. I phased and slipped my shorts on. I ran all the way home, and snuck in the house through my bedroom window. When I got in the lights went on all of a sudden causing me to jump.

"Do you know what time it is?" my mother asked.

"Uh..."

"It's almost 5:30." She said when I didn't respond.

Damn we were there for more than 2 hours? Didn't seem that long.

"If this wolf business, is going to make you stay out all hours of the night- "

"It's not mom. We were training for the fight."

"With the Cullens?"

I just stood there frozen.

"What?" she asked.

"How- How do you know that name?"

"You're not the only one with the gift remember?" she said with a smile.

"Right. So when did you find out?"

"Last week. I wasn't sure when but I had a dream about you going to their party with the boys. Then you told me you were going out yesterday and I put two and two together." She said with a shrug.

"So are you ok with that? with them?"

"Do you trust them?" she asked.

"Yes I do." I said without any hesitation.

"Then I'm alright with this. Although you really shouldn't be out this long." She frowned. "You're sure you'll be alright?"

"Ma." I whined. " I'll be fine. We don't have any casualties. An injured person sure but no one dies."

"You never did tell me how he got hurt."

"One of us got cocky and bit off more than they could chew. Jake stepped in to help and he ended up getting hurt." I know that's not all but she doesn't need the gory details.

"Have you had any other visions lately?"

"No."

"What was the last thing you saw?"

"Jacob leaving a week from this saturday. Edward sends him a wedding invitation and he takes off."

"Why did he get an invitation?"

"Edward thinks it would make Bella happy to have her best friend there. He didn't send the invitation to rub it in Jacob's face, but he thought Jacob would at least want the option to go."

"That's nice of him I guess. Why does Jacob leave though?"

"He's conflicted." I said frowning. "The human in him just wants her to be happy and he sees that she's happy with Edward. The wolf in him on the other hand won't let her go. Why? I wish I could say, but I can't."

"I'm sure he'll be fine."

"I hope so." I said.

"Ok enough of that now go to bed." she commanded.

She pulled my head down and kissed my forehead.

"Night mom."

"You mean good morning." She joked.

I had to fight the urge to roll my eye's on that one.

"Yeah good morning." I said.

She left the room and I made my way over to my bed. I jumped on it and went to sleep.

~~~~~~~FRIDAY NIGHT~~~~~~~

_Why do I need to watch her?_ - Seth. Asking the same question for hundredth time.

_Because Seth, we all agreed that the younger members would stay out of it_. - Sam

_But why couldn't you get Collin or Brady to do it? They're the babies of the group._

_When we said the younger members we meant _all_ of them. That includes you Seth._ - Me

_But I wanna fight! Stop treating me like a baby._ - He whined.

_Stop acting like one._ - Leah

He huffed.

_This is cruel and unusal punishment._

_How so?_ - I asked.

_This is no better then waving a bottle of Jack Daniels in a recovering alcoholic's face._

Kid's got a point there I can't deny that.

_What do you know about Jack Daniels?_ - Me

_Like I said I'm not a baby, I know stuff._

_So do we and this is the best option for everyone involved._ - Sam

He sighed.

_Fine._

_We aren't doing this to torture you, you know that right?_ - Me

_I know but it's still annoying._

There was a pause and I decided to speak up.

_Well, I'm gonna phase out to catch some Z's_ - Me.

_Why?_ - A chorus of people asked.

_Because I'm sure sleeping like this is not very comfortable._

_But the leeches._ - Paul

_Won't do a thing to me. If they wanted to do something don't you think they would have by now_?

No one said anything.

_Ok now good night._

_Night._ - Various members of the pack said even though they were still worried about this idea.

I trotted deeper into the forest and phased. I slipped on my shorts and went to lean against the tree. Even though I haven't had any visions lately, I didn't want to take the risk of someone else seeing. Since Edward was sitting it out I wouldn't have to worry about the Cullens finding out either.

~~~~~~~SATURDAY MORNING~~~~~~~

When I woke up the sun was barely over the mountains yet. Apart from Sam and Jared, everyone around us was still sleeping. Good thing I didn't have any dreams last night, cause I would have no idea where to start explaining. I stood up so I could stretch and I yawned too. I walked towards the clearing and was greeted by Alice and Jasper.

"Morning" they said.

"Good morning." I said. My voice was thick with sleep.

"We have news." Alice said.

"Good news I hope." I said

"Actually it's not so good." She said nervously.

"Go on."

"Well, we have this coven in Italy that consider themselves royalty." She began to explain before I interrupted.

"The Volturi." I said.

They both froze when I said that.

"What?" I asked.

"How do you know about them?" Jasper asked.

"Bella told Jacob about them." I started. " She didn't say anything crucial like how many members they have, or if and how many of them have gifts." I paused. " I guess she was afraid that if she said to much that word would get out or something."

"Yes it would be bad if it did." Jasper said. " They don't like having too many people know about our existence."

"And they sent four members of their gaurd to handle this situation with the newborns." Alice added.

"Then why didn't they come sooner?" I asked. Of course I knew it was because they hoped that the numbers of this family would dwindle, but I didn't say it out loud.

"I don't know, they just made the decision to come now." She said frowning.

"When will they get here?"

"About 15 minutes after the fight. That's another thing, all of you can't be here when they do. We hold no grudge against you but they do not honor truces between Werewolves and Vampires." She said.

I looked over to Sam who was glancing between all of us.

"Did you get all of that?" I asked. He nodded once. I turned back to Alice and Jasper.

"Don't worry, as soon as it is over, we'll leave." _Maybe not right after._ I added mentally. I was really glad Edward wasn't here.

"Thank you." She said.

"No problem." I repiled.

They both nodded and went to rejoin their family. Now we just have to wait for them. The plan was simple, the Cullens would stand in front of the rock formation in the north and we would wait behind it. They would deal with their half before we sprang into action. I went deeper into the forest to phase and join the others.

_Morning._ - I said.

_Morning._ - They replied.

_So Jake and Seth still sleeping?_

_Yeah. Bella got cold last night and Jake offered to keep her warm. Seth went to sleep right after._ - Sam

I rolled my eyes.

_Jake really shouldn't push his luck._

_I know but he's got it bad for her._ - Jared.

_Well hopefully he get's over her before it get's worse._

_He's in too deep if you ask me._

_Whose in too deep?_ - Seth asked. Doesn't surprise me, the kid always was a morning person.

_Jake._ - Jared.

_With what?_

_Bella._

_I'm sure he'll be fine_

_Let's hope so._ - Me

Over the next few hours the others started waking up. Jake joined in and positioned himself near Seth.

_Heard you tried to get lucky last night._ - Embry

_She was cold and I kept her warm. No biggie._

_I bet you enjoyed yourself_. - Leah

_Shut up._

_What no smart ass remark?_

_I mean it I'm trying to listen to something._

He was close to the tent that Bella and Edward were in. Their conversation was so low I don't think we would have heard it in our other forms.

"So what was your number one?" came Bella's voice.

"Two night's ago - when you said you would be my wife." was Edward's response. We froze. Oh shit.

"That's not on your lists?" he asked.

"It is- minus the proposal."

_No she didn't. She wouldn't._ - Jake.

_Jake._

_Shut up!_

"Why?" Edward asked.

"I was already your's forever, we don't need a piece of paper to make it official." She said.

_Fuck!_ - Jake.

We all heard him yelling that, but to the others it came out as a howl. We could fell his anger rise then fade into sadness. It was almost like we could feel his heart breaking. He could feel our pity so he phased back to a human to avoid our words of support.

_That bitch._ - Leah

_It wasn't her fault. He and Edward agreed that they wouldn't fight fair. This is low but Jake knew what he was getting into_. - Me

_Guys listen._ - Seth.

"Jake was listening." She said.

"Yes."

"You knew."

"Yes."

There was a pause.

"He deserves to know." Edward said.

Another pause.

"Are you mad at me?"

"No I'm mad at me." she said.

_You should be._ - Leah

_Can it._ - Me

"You shouldn't torment yourself love."

"No, I should save my energy to torment him. Wouldn't want to leave any part of him unharmed." She snapped.

"He knew I could do something like this."

"Does it matter? I don't care if you both would do things to piss each other off. Either way you look at it I'm the one hurting him. I'm a horrible person."

_Yes. Yes you are._ - Leah

_Shut it!_ - The others.

"You're not."

"I am! I have to go find him." She said.

_If you know what's good for you..._ - Leah

_Enough!_

"He's already miles away and you could freeze."

"I don't care! I have to - I have to..." She trailed off. Through Seth's eyes we could see her get out of the tent. She stumbled through the snow and tried to get away. Edward caught her arm before she could get far.

"I'm sorry Bella. I could get him so you can explain if you want."

She didn't say anything she just nodded. Edward took off and Bella went to stay by the tent. About 5 minutes later Seth set himself into a defensive crouch.

_What is it?_ - Me

_Someone's coming._

_Can you hear what their saying?_ - Sam

_No._

_How many?_

_Two. One has a heart beat, the other doesn't._

_Could be Jake and the mind reader_. - Embry

_Just wait till they come into view before you do anything_. - Sam.

It was tense for a long minute before until a familliar voice spoke.

"It's just us Seth." Jake said. We all relaxed.

_Seth could you ask Edward if he heard about the Volturi.?_ - I asked ignoring all the questions from those who weren't there when Alice and I spoke. Edward turned to face Seth who asked what I asked him to do.

"What happened?"

I replayed the conversation me and Alice had. Edward tensed up.

"That complicates things." He then turned to Bella. "Bella I'm going to go have a conversation with the pack some ways away so you can talk to jacob."

"Hurry back." she mumbled.

He pecked her on the lips.

"I will." He said.

He and Seth headed down the path away from the ridge. When they were at a good distance Edward spoke.

"15 minutes?" Edward asked.

_That's what she said._ - Me

"That's cutting it close."

_I know._

_How bad could it be?_ - Jared.

_Just another bunch of leeches._ - Paul

Others voiced the same response.

_Will all of you shut up. I'm trying to talk here. - _I snapped

It went quiet.

_Is there anything we can do besides leave?_ - I asked.

"No. They want to speak with us. If they see any of you they will not hesitate to attack."

_There's 4 of them they can't be that bad_. - Quil.

"They have very powerful gifts. Gifts that have and can bring down large numbers like the ones you have. Numbers don't matter when it comes to them." Edward countered.

No one else interrupted. Edward Tensed up again.

_What is it?_ - Seth

"You'll see in a moment." Edward murmered. Before I could ask Jake Phased and we all got a look inside his head. Him talking to bella, him acting noble, him kissing Bella. We could see through his eyes when she asked him to do that. We could feel his tounge clash with her's. Through his eyes it was amazing. Through ours, we all had to fight the urge to heave.

_Cut it out! we don't need to see that shit._ - Leah.

_Ugh! stop it Jake._ - Seth.

_Yeah seriously stop it._ - Me.

_Oh hush. That was possibly the best thing to ever happen to me._

_Quiet guys. They're talking._ - Seth

"What would you like me to do?" Edward asked.

"Call me every bad name in every language you know. Tell me you're disgusted with and make me beg for forgivness."

"I can't do that."

"Well stop trying to make me feel better. I deserve to suffer."

_I guess only one of you thought it was amazing._ - Leah

Jacob growled.

_All of you focus it's getting closer._ - Sam

_Aw man._ - Seth

**_Quiet._** - Sam

It was silent for about a minute before we heard lots of snarling. Then we heard the Cullens moving away from the rock formation. We heard what sounded like coins falling to the ground. Sam moved slowly to peak over the rocks. Through his eyes we saw Carlise and Esme tag teaming one of the newborns. Rosalie was dealing with one of them by herself as was Emmett, who seemed to be enjoying himself. Alice was dancing around them and tripping them. Jasper was just ripping them to shreds left and right. Across was at least another 10 newborns heading straight for them.

_Ready_ - Sam started.

Pause.

_Steady_

Another pause.

**_GO!_**

We ran over the rock formation and headed straight towards the Cullens. They were pretty much finished with the first wave. They all ducked when they saw us and we leapt over them. The newborns all wore faces of confusion and terror.

"What they hell are they?" one of them asked.

"Riley never said anything about this." another hissed.

"I don't see the girl let's go!" another roared.

_Paul, Jared, Embry go around so they don't leave._ - Sam

They went around and blocked their path. They're faces all changed from terror to rage in an instant.

"Kill the dogs!"

_Not if we get you first parasite_. - Jacob.

We all growled in agreement and charged at them. Quil got tackled by two of them. They boys tried to hold him down but Paul and Jasper pulled them off. Sam and Jared shredded one each. Two broke away and headed up towards the ridge.

_Leah with me._ - I said.

We both ran after them. Leah got there before me and tackled one to the ground. The other one tried to attack Leah but I got there and bit into his right shoulder. He shrieked in pain and he used his left hand to claw at me. I bit down harder and ripped his arm out. I dropped his arm and pushed him down to the ground so I could bite his neck and decapitate him. Esme appeared by both of to collect the pieces. Embry and Paul were having a blast with their newborns. Jacob and Sam were handiling one together. Quil was ripping one apart with Emmett. Leah left to go get another straggler but I stayed behind. I noticed something familiar in the air. I sniffed around and I smelled it. Furry cat. Victoria.

_Guys Victoria when up towards the ridge._ - Me

_What?_

_Seth are you alright?_ - I asked

_Shh I'm trying to listen._

"She doesn't love you Riley. She only came to avenge her mate James." Edward said.

"He's lying Riley. I only love you." Came a ridiculously high voice. Jesus is that her?

"I'm telling you the truth Riley. Walk away now and you won't be killed."

_Not by you at least_. - Seth

_Don't push it Seth_. - Me.

He didn't reply but we heard some snarling. Then he was up in a flash and he tackled the male vampire and started gnawing at his hands. He tore off a few fingers and spit them out. Riley punched Seth in his chest causing him to fly back.

_Ow!_ - Seth

_Seth back off now._ - Leah

_No way! This is my fight._

He got up and started circling Riley. Like a hunter would circle his prey. We didn't see Edward or Victoria. They must be fighting in another part of the ridge. Riley charged at him and Seth dodged. He bit down on Riley's left shoulder and shook his head. Riley's arm dropped to the ground and he shrieked in pain. He swatted Riley's arm away with his paw.

"You'll pay for that pup." he said.

_Gotta catch me first._

_Don't get cocky Seth._ - Me.

Edward appeared alongside Seth around the same time Victoria went next to Riley.

"He won't turn on me Victoria. You gave us a common enemy."

There was a pause.

"Look closely, he looks nothing like the creature that James hunted in Siberia."

_Wait what creature?_ - Jared

_Are there more wolves out there?_ - Qul

_Shh._ - Me.

"Not the same." She exclaimed. "Impossible."

"Nothing is impossible Victoria. And no you won't touch her, you won't even get close enough!" He snarled out the last bit. Seth rushed over to Riley and bit his right shoulder and dragged him away.

"Victoria!." He yelled. "Victoria!" he yelled again.

_If she didn't hear you the first time, she sure as hell didn't hear you the second time._ - Paul

We all snickered.

_Seth bite his neck and his head will pop off_. - Me

_Got it._

He did what I said and Riley's shrieking stopped intantly.

"Gather the pieces Seth." Came Edwards voice. Seth grabbed Riley's torso and headed over to Edward to start a pile. He trotted over to Riley's arm, grabbed it and went to place it in the pile.

_Don't forget his head._ - Quil

_Oh yeah._

_Make sure you don't swallow him._ - Paul

Seth rolled his eyes. He grabbed Riley's head and placed it in the pile. Edward pulled out two zippo lighters. He flicked one on and threw it on to Seth's pile. He flicked the other and threw it on his.

"It's over Bella, it's over." Edward said.

"Is everyone alright?" she asked.

I stopped listening to check things out. There was a big fire in the middle of the field and it was rank. There was one newborn near the Cullens. Another was close by, hiding from the others so I stalked slowly and waited for my moment. He didn't notice my pressence. Just when I was going to pounce Leah zoomed passed me and tried to get him. He whipped his head around and caught Leah by her mouth.

_Leah let him go!_ - Me

_I got it!_ - She snapped.

_Leah don't be a hero just let him go._ - Sam

What happened next felt like I was watching a movie in slow motion. Jacob raced over and knocked Leah out of the way. The newborn switched his attention from Leah to Jacob. He jumped on Jacob's back and Jacob tried to buck him off.

_Get this fucking thing off of me!_ - he exclaimed.

Me, Sam, and Paul raced over to him but the newborn held on and squeezed tightly.

_Ah fuck!_

Jacob fell to the ground and the newborn stood behind him. I jumped over Jacob and swatted the newborn away. Paul and Sam made quick work of him while I checked on Jacob.

_Talk to me Jake. _

_I'm healing but I can't feel the right side of my body._

_Phase back so Carlisle can check on you._

_No._

_Do it._

_No._

_Sam a little help here._

_Phase back Jacob.** NOW**._

Jacob whimpered but he phased back.

"Oh for fuck sake!" he yelled.

_I'll phase and talk to Carlisle._

I ran in to the forest to phase back before anyone could protest. I slipped my shorts on and ran at my top speed in this form over to Jacob. Carlisle joined a second later.

"He said he can't feel the right side of his body." I told him. "He also said he's healing but I don't think it's helping."

"It's not." He started. " The right half of his body is shattered and the bones aren't setting properly."

"Can you reset them?" I asked.

"Yes but I don't have much time to reset them here."

"The Volturi."

"Yes."

"How much time?"

"10 minutes." Alice said on the other side of the clearing. I turned to Sam.

"Can you make at least three others phase back so we can carry Jake back to Billy's?"

He nodded.

"I need you to give Carlisle permission to come over the treaty line."

He narrowed his gold eyes at me.

"Do you have any better ideas? Sue may be a nurse but she's not strong enough to reset something like this."

He stared at me for a good minute before he nodded stifly. I turned back to Carlisle who was just looking at me.

"I will escort you across the line myself. Please come as soon you can."

"I will." He said.

Quil, Embry,and surprisingly Paul came to help me carry Jake.

"How we gonna do this?" Quil asked.

"We'll have to put him over our shoulders. Quil, Embry, you should take his lower half. Me and Paul will take his upper half. We'll grab him at the same time so we don't jostle him too much."

The all nodded and we knelt down in our postions. We slowly pulled him up and put him over our shoulders and started moving away from the clearing.

"Don't worry bro, we got you." - Quil

"You'll be better in no time." - Embry.

"You better not die on us kid, or I'll haunt your ass in the afterlife." - Paul

"We need a cover story." I said. "Charile will still be there and he'll want to know what happened."

"Tell him Jake crashed on his bike or something." Embry said.

"That should work. But we'll have to get Jake's shorts on, nudity may not be a problem for us, but Charlie won't let that go."

"When should we try?"

"Maybe when we get about a half mile from Billy's house."

"Sounds good."

We didn't talk much after that. Hopefully I can get to the treaty line before Carlisle is done with his meeting.


	10. Not Fully Healed

T.J. POV

The trip to Billy's house was rough but we made it. Getting Jacob's shorts on were a task with in itself but we managed to do it without hurting him. When we got to Billy's house the questioning was instant.

**FLASHBACK**

"What happened?" Billy and Charlie asked at the same time.

"He crashed his bike." Quil said.

"I'll get an ambulance." Charlie said.

"No Dr. Cullen will be here." Embry said.

"Really?" Charlie asked.

"Sam called him and asked him to come over. I have to meet him near the entrance of La push so I can lead him here." I said. Not exactly a lie but not the whole truth.

"You sure? I could meet him and bring him here."

"No it's fine I already volunteered Mr?"

"Charlie Swan. But just call me Charlie."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Thomas."

"Leave him in his room and go get Dr. Cullen." Billy said.

"Got it."

We all carried him to his room and Quil opened the door. Jake's bed was so small that it was difficult to get him to lay down properly.

"Grab a chair so we can make sure his leg doesn't hang off."

Embry grabbed the chair by Jake's desk and left it at the foot of the bed.

"Stay here. I'll be back." I said and bolted out of the house.

**END FLASHBACK**

There was something I didn't consider when I told Carlisle to come over. I knew Charlie was going to be there but he didn't. Thankfully, when I got to the treaty line near the stream Edward was there.

**FLASHBACK**

"Where's Carlisle?" I asked.

"He's getting some equipment and morphine for Jacob. He's going to drive to the entrance." He explained.

"Thank god. I forgot to tell him Charlie would be there and it would look weird if Carlisle just showed up with no car."

"I know. I reminded him and luckily he had to get some supplies. How is he?" he asked with geniune concern.

"Well the pain was gone but he still can't move his arm and leg."

"He'll be fine."

"I know."

We didn't talk for a few seconds. I was about to head out and wait for Carlisle but he started talking again.

"Why did you defend my decision to tell Jacob like that? Especially when you thought it was low?"

I shrugged.

"I've been telling him to lay off. And like Leah said, a blind person would be able the love you two have for each other."

"But he's family, shouldn't you be yelling at me?"

"Don't get me wrong, I care about Jacob. I don't see him as just my cousin, I see him as my brother. All of them actually well except Leah of course." I snorted. "But that agreement you two made was made for you two and no one else. And while I did think it was low, that's all I can say about it. If we were all human, and if I didn't know about that agreement, I would beat the ever loving shit out of you. But we're not and I do so it doesn't matter. Besides he wasn't exactly noble now was he?"

"No." He murmured. "I have to admit, he's very cunning. I also have to admit you are very impressive yourself."

"Huh?"

"I mean you've displayed an impressive amount of control in the face of your enemies. More impressive than your Alpha. It amazes me how in control you are considering how long you've been a wolf. You would make a great leader."

I had to laugh at that.

"Thank you for the glowing review, but I'm not leadership material."

He frowned at me.

"Why do you think that?"

"I don't know I've just never been one to boss people around. I mean, you could argue that I do that now. But I'm not doing it to put my name in the hat. I'm doing it because unlike most members of my family, I like to look at both sides before going on the offensive. Anyway, I don't consider you and your family enemies. Or were you talking about the newborns?"

"Both."

"You and your family are not our enemies. All those years ago when you made the treaty with our ancestors, you promised that you were different, and it's not difficult to see. Although..."

"Yes?"

"Is Bella really dead set on being a vampire?"

He froze for a second.

"Yes. I've been trying to change her mind for awhile but she's very stubborn." He chuckled. "I wanted her to stay human, but she said no. I wanted her to wait for a few years but she said no. The only thing I could get her to agree on was marrying me, which she only did so I could turn her and be with me forever." He frowned. "She holds me with such high regard it's ridiculous."

"Well when your soulmates you tend to do that."

"I suppose."

His phone went off in his pocket. He took it out and answered it.

"Are you close?"

Pause.

"Yes I'll send him over."

He snapped his phone shut.

"Carlisle's going to be there soon, you should head out."

"Thank you."

"Think nothing of it."

"And Edward."

"Yes Thomas?"

"When you change Bella, I want you and your family to get as far away from here as possible. I've been in Sam's head and he is slowly starting to trust all of you. But when you change her that won't stop him from hunting you down."

He nodded.

"Thank you for the warning."

"No problem."

**END FLASHBACK**

When I asked Carlisle to come over, I wasn't sure how well the others would take it. But I think it went as well as it could.

**FLASHBACK**

Carlisle was waiting in his black Mercedes when I got to the entrance to La Push. I motioned for him to come forward. He drove up and rolled down the passenger side window.

"Need a lift?"

"Uh sure."

I hopped in and told him where to go.

"Go down the road for half a mile then take the first left."

He nodded.

"How was he when you left him?" he asked.

"He wasn't in any pain but his right arm and leg aren't working correctly."

"That's because they're set in the wrong positions. Where to?"

"Take the next right and go straight. It's the red house all the way on the end."

He nodded again. Whe we pulled up most of the pack were waiting out front.

"Great, this should be fun." I said with an eye roll.

"I'm sure it's just a precaution." Carlise said. "Could you help me with the supplies?"

"Sure, whatever you need."

We both stepped out and headed towards the trunk of his car. He had a black leather bag and an oxygen tank.

"What's this for?" I asked motioning to the tank.

"If Jacob cannot handle the pain of me resetting his bones, and if the morphine doesn't help, he may pass out. This is just in case he loses any oxygen."

I grabbed the tank and he took the bag.

"Just stay close to me." I said and he nodded. We walked over to the house and stopped about 5 feet away from the pack. Leah, and Paul crossed their arms. Jared and Seth were tense not because of Carlisle but because they were afraid of what the others might do. Quil and Embry must still be inside.

"Some welcoming committie you guys make."

They didn't say anything.

"Where's Sam?"

"He's inside with Billy and Charlie." Jared said.

"Could you go get him and tell him that me and Carlisle are here." I asked. He looked over at Leah and Paul before he turned to me.

"It's ok Jared we'll be fine."

He nodded reluctantly and went inside. About 30 seconds later he and Sam came outside.

"What's going on here?" he asked.

"Oh nothing, apparently Paul and Leah have medical degree's no one knew about and now they don't think Carlisle is fit for the job." I said shrugging.

"Paul, Leah, Jacob needs help and Carlisle is our best option for this, so let him through."

Paul hesitated for a second but he went to stand by Jared and Seth. Leah stood her ground and I walked over to her.

"Look Clearwater, I don't care if you hate Carlisle and his family but he came here to help now let him do it."

She glared at me at me for a second but stomped away to go join her brother. I looked over at Carlisle.

"This way." I said. I made him walk in front of me and we headed for the front door. Sam greeted him.

"Thank you for coming Carlisle."

"It's no problem Sam."

Sam opened the door and we walked in. Charlie and Billy were sitting in the front. Charlie seemed surprised but glad to see Carlisle. Billy looked at ease.

"His room is this way." Sam said motioning to the hallway. All three of us headed to Jacobs room. When we got there Quil and and Embry stood away from the bed.

"Go outside and wait with the others. Carlisle's going to need as much room as possible." Sam said. They both nodded and left the room. Carlisle went to stand next Jacob.

"Hello Jacob." he said.

"Dr. Fang." Jacob replied with a nod. Carlisle chuckled.

Me and Sam looked at eachother and rolled our eyes.

"Sam I'm going to insert an IV of morphine into his left hand, could you hold the bag?"

"Sure."

"Thomas I need you to tell the others that this could get very loud, I don't want them rushing in here and interrupting us."

"Got it." I left the room to relay the message. I told Billy and Charlie first then I told the pack although I'm sure they heard him.

"Look it may get loud, so don't run in here and try to kill Carlisle. Ok?" They all nodded and I ran back into the room. Sam was on the left side of Jacob holding a ridiculous amount of morphine. Carlisle was on Jacob's right.

"Do you need anything else?" I asked.

"Yes. Could you stand over there and hold him down?"

I nodded. I bypassed Sam and hovered over Jacob. I put my right hand on his shoulder and my left hand on his waist.

"This ok?" I asked.

"That's perfect." He said.

"Uh doc?"

"Yes?"

"I didn't go to medical school but isn't that a bit much?" I said eyeballing the bag of morphine. He chuckled.

"Your healing factors are very strong, I wasn't sure how much to use. I could have over done it, but I would rather use alot than not enough. Everybody ready?"

Me and Sam nodded. Carlisle his hands on Jacobs lower ribs.

"One...Two..." He pressed down and pushed which resulted in a sickening crunch. Jacob screamed out.

"Ah fuck me running!"

I had to fight back my laughter and in the corner of my eye, Sam was doing the same thing. Carlise moved on to the next rib.

"Ready?"

We nodded again.

"One...Two..." And crunch.

"Holy hell!"

Next rib.

"Jesus fucking Christ!"

"That takes care of the ribs. Are you ready for the arm and leg?"

We nodded again. Carlise carefully pulled Jacob's arm off his body.

"I'm going to pull his arm out of it's socket so I can pop it back in." He told us. Me and Sam nodded.

"One...Two..." He pulled it out and pushed it back in which earned a blood curdling scream from Jacob. Me and Sam winced at the sound.

"Now the leg and then I'll wrap you up." He said. He moved on to Jacob's leg repeating the process and gaining the same reaction.

"Thomas, can you help me sit him up right so I can wrap his ribs, arm, and leg." He asked.

I nodded.

We both put our hands under each shoulder and pulled him up slowly. Jacob groaned and tensed up for a second when he was hunced over his stomach, but when he leaned back he was fine. Carlisle looked at me and said.

"I need you to hold his right arm up while I wrap his body."

I nodded and sat behind Jacob and with one hand I slowly raised his arm. He groaned and then laughed. I frowned in confusion.

"What's so funny there chuckles?" I asked.

"Nothing I just feel _so_ good." He replied with a snicker. I looked over at Sam and the bag he was holding. Most of the morphine was gone. I turned to Carlisle and asked.

"Should we be worried?"

"No, the morphine has kicked in and to put it in laymen's terms, he's feeling buzzed." He said chuckling.

"Ah."

Carlisle grabbed what looked like gauze and started wrapping Jake's torso. Jacob started laughing again.

"What now?" I demanded

"It tickles." he said laughing.

I looked over at Sam and if he could he would be rolling on the floor. I could hear some snickering outside. Probably Paul and Embry. They were never going to let him live this down.

"Alright that takes care of that." Carlisle started. "Now for the arm."

He held Jakes elbow with his left hand and wrapped his arm with the right. Jake started laughing again when Carlisle wrapped the area near his armpit.

"Can I ask you a question doc." he slurred.

"Sure."

"Why did you become a doctor? I mean aren't vampires supposed to be secretive?"

"That's two questions cos." I said.

"Oh shit my bad." he slurred then laughed.

"To answer your fist question, I've always maintained a great amount of compassion. Even when I was human, I was always helping people. I wasn't always a doctor, I was the son of a pastor who fancied himself a hunter of the supernatural."

I frowned and I looked over at Sam who was frowning too. He turned to Carlisle.

"Your father hunted supernatural beings?" he asked.

"Well it was more like he accused people of being supernatural." He started. "In those days, you could be put on trial for being different from the rest of society. My father killed alot of people when he was alive and I wanted no part of it. I wanted to study to be a doctor but when he died he left his job to me. I thought it would be a great way to right the wrongs my father did."

"Did it work?" I asked.

"For awhile. I was more practical than my father. I did thorough investigations and when I found nothing on the accused I let them go."

"Were you bitten when you were doing this?" Sam asked.

"Yes. One month after doing that job I was bitten."

He paused for a second and we heard Jacob's light snoring. I guess the morphine and the pain took it's toll on him.

"If it's not too much to ask, how did it happen?" Sam asked.

"I was with a hunting party investigating a claim of a coven of vampires in town. We split into two teams and found a few of them in the the sewers. They didn't feed and when we showed up they tried to kill us. The other members of our hunting party showed up before they could finish. I was bitten and I tried to get away from the others before I changed."

"Were you afraid that they would kill you or were you afraid of killing them?" Sam asked.

"The latter. None of us knew how long the process would take. Some of us thought it was instant so I ran away." he answered.

"Where did you go?" I asked.

"Into an abandoned cellar. There were a few sacks of rotten potatoes and some barrels of wine. When the pain got worse, I collapsed. I was in pain for three days and not once did I scream."

"What did you do when you changed?" Sam asked.

"I tried to kill myself. It wasn't easy I'll tell you that much." He chuckled. "I tried stabbing myself, I jumped off a cliff. None of them worked obviously."

"Why did you do that?" Sam asked.

"I never wanted to be what I am. None of my kind has chosen this path. I wanted to help people not hurt them. I couldn't bear the thought of being a monster. So I stayed away from humans as much as possible."

"Then what did you do for...you know food?" I asked.

"Nothing. I went 6 months without feeding."

Me and Sam exchanged a look.

"6 months?" Sam asked. "You must have went insane."

"I did. One day I was near a small town formulating plans on how to kill all the people. It was an internal battle and my compassion won out. I'm glad that it did because now I live the lifestyle that allowed me to become a doctor. It allowed me to have great control around humans."

"You hunted an animal." I guessed.

"Yes, a herd of deer to be specific. When I did I realized that I didn't need to hurt anyone to survive. And over time, I went to school and snuck into surgeries so I could learn how to be a healer. It took me along time to gain the control I have, but now human blood doesn't bother me. When I was in Italy I stumbled upon the Volturi. I thought they were more refined than the vampires who attacked me. They were always trying to get me drink human blood but I refused. It was because I believe that drinking the blood of animals is far more humane."

I knew most of this but hearing it from the man himself is something else. It was more...engaging than seeing it in a vision. He was finished wrapping Jake's arm.

"You can let him lie back now." He told me. I nodded and slowly moved out of the way to lie him down. Carlisle started working on his leg when Sam started talking again.

"Did you turn the members of your family?" Sam asked.

"Only my sons Edward and Emmett, my daughter Rosalie, and wife Esme. I did it because it was the only way to save them."

"Save them?" Sam asked.

"Yes. Edward was suffering from Spanish Influenza, his whole family actually. His father died first then his mother but before she did she begged me to save her son. I guess you could say I was selfish because I changed him partially because I was alone. The other part of it was because if by some miracle he were to survive, he would be alone as well."

Me and Sam didn't say anything for a minute. I decided to break the silence.

"How about the others?" I asked.

"Three years later, Edward and I were in Ashland, Wisconsin when I came across Esme. She tried to kill herself because she lost her child and couldn't take the pain. They left her in the morgue and didn't even bother to check her pulse. I met her once when she was a teenager and I felt the mating pull to her."

"The mating pull?" Sam asked.

"Yes, sometimes when a vampire finds their soulmate, we feel a pull here in our chest. When you feel it towards someone and if you touch them, you will both feel this spark of electricty go through your bodies. It doesn't happen to all vampires and it doesn't happen in the same way, sometimes it takes a look, sometimes a touch. And not every vampire finds their soulmate, we could go centuries without finding them."

"If you felt the pull to her why didn't you change her then?" Sam asked.

"Because she was already promised to someone else. I come from a time when ruining someone's marriage even one that hasn't happened yet was considered very taboo and I just couldn't bring myself to do it."

"So when everyone thought she was dead you decided to change her?"

"Yes. I found out her husband wasn't the best...example of what a man should be. He treated her badly and when she found out she was pregnant, she ran away to avoid him. The child I found out, died of a lung fever two days after he was born. After her suicide attempt, her family held a funeral which I observed from a far. Only her family attended, her husband didn't bother to show up."

Me and Sam were both went quiet again.

"Who did you change next?" Sam asked.

"My daughter Rosalie. Edward, Esme, and I were in New york, Rochester to be exact. Edward and Esme were going to see a film and I was going to join them. I smelled blood on the way over and went to investigate. I found her near the park barely hanging on."

"What happened?"

"I'm afraid I can't go into too much detail but let's just say that while my kind and yours may be considered monsters, I've seen mankind do some pretty monsterous things. At the time I didn't know the circumstances of how she was attacked, but if you are really interested in what happened, I'm sure Rosalie would be willing to tell you."

He paused.

"When I changed her, Edward was furious with me. He thought I wasn't thinking straight when I changed her because she came from a very well known family and someone was bound to know something was different with her. When she woke up she was confused and when I told her what she became, she too was furious with me. She felt like I took away her choice but if you had the power to save someone even if it meant that they couldn't be human, would you do it?"

"Yes." I answered with out hesitation.

Sam shot me a look before he answered.

"Yes but only if it was in a life or death situation like the ones you mentioned. What happened after that?"

"Well I'll have to skip over a few things because I'm sure Rosalie would rather tell you than let me do it."

He paused.

"So, about two years after I changed Rosalie, she stumbled upon Emmett who was mauled by a black bear in Tennesse. Usually, Rose wouldn't have the self control to be around a wounded human. But when she looked at him, she just had this connection that she didn't understand and she knew she had to save him. She fought against her instincts and carried him over 100 miles to me. She asked me to save and I did. He didn't have the reaction we thought he would. He didn't resent being what he was and to put it in his words 'Hell's not so bad if you get to have an angel with you.'"

"So where do Jasper and Alice fit into this?" I asked.

"Well around 1950, they both found us. Alice had a vision about both of them joining our family. We were a little weary especially since she seemed to know alot about us and we knew nothing about them. And sometime before that, I made the treaty with your ancestors."

He finished wrapping Jake's leg and put the gauze away.

"Is it okay if I get a blood sample from Jacob? I just want to run some test on it so I can specify as to how much medication is needed for an injured wolf. I'll give you the information and nobody will see the test results but me, you have my word."

"What do you think Beta?" Sam asked me. I rolled my eyes.

"You really need to give someone else this position. Anyway what's the worst that could happen?"

Sam thought it over for a minute.

"Ok but take only take what you need, and nothing more."

"Of course." He pulled out a syringe and came over to where we were standing. He carefully removed the IV and placed the syringe in Jacob's arm to draw blood. He didn't take that much and the area where the needle punctured already healed.

"You know, you didn't have to tell us all of that." Sam started. "Why did you?"

"While I did resent becoming what I am in the beginning, I don't resent it now. I've learned to make the best out of what hand fate decided to deal me. It gave me a beautiful wife, amazing children and a chance to do what I love. I know you don't completely trust my family, but I hold nothing against any of you, and I really don't mind sharing my story."

He paused to gather his things and I helped with the tank again.

"Well that's everything, let me know if his condition changes, and I'll head right over. I don't want him doing anything strenuous for awhile. He'll need crutches for a day at most but he'll have to act like he needs it around the humans."

Sam held his hand out and Carlisle shook it.

"Thank you, for everything." he said.

"I'm just doing my job there's no need to thank me."

"I'll walk you outside and escort you back." I said.

We both left the room and went into the front. Carlisle gave both Charlie and Billy an update and Billy repeatedly thanked him over and over. Carlisle shook his hand we walked outside. Most of the pack were very vocal about their thanks. Leah didn't say it out loud but she did give a nod of gratitude to him. We both got into his car and he drove away. When we were out of hearing range I spoke.

"Carlisle, can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"Earlier today when I spoke to Edward, I refered to him and Bella as soulmates. He didn't correct me so I was wondering if they were, and which way did he find out?"

"Yes they are soulmates, and Edward found out when they sat next to eachother in biology. Their hands touched for a second and he felt the spark and he's sure she did as well."

"Huh." was all I could manage to say.

"Why do you ask?"

"No reason I was just curious. The way you vampires find your soulmates is intriguing."

"How do you wolves find your soulmate?" he asked.

"Well it's a little complicated to explain. I really shouldn't say anything but ah what the hell. I haven't found her yet but even if I did I still wouldn't be able to explain it. We call it imprinting, and it's done when we look at the person were meant to be with. On the outside looking in, you could say it's love at first sight. I've been in the heads of imprinted wolves and it's so much more than that. It's like a million steel cables are binding you to this one being. They become your heart and soul."

"I see and does the person you imprint on feel the same way?"

"It varies from person to person but the end result is the same, you end up together."

"Is it done purely to find your soulmate?"

"Well I think it is. Sam thinks it's for mating purposes only. You know to pass the gene on and make stronger wolves. It's only a theory but it's not something I agree with entirely. It's also something I can't dispell either."

"Why are you so against that theory?" he asked.

"I've been in their heads and they don't look at their soulmates like...someone whose only there to push out puppies."

"Hmm." was all he said.

We rode in silence until we got to the treaty line.

"Well this is my stop." I said extending my hand. "Thank you again."

"There's really no need to thank me." he said shaking my hand.

"Before I go, there's something I should tell you."

I paused.

"I told Edward to get as far away from here when he changes Bella. I strongly suggest working on a plan when you get back with your family."

"I will. Thank you for the warning." I nodded and got out of the car. He drove off an I ran back to Billy's house.

**END FLASHBACK**

That happened a week ago. Today's the day Jacob get's the invatation and runs away. I'm riding over there under the guise of checking on Jake, but I'll mostly be checking on Billy. I pulled up and everything seemed fine but I could smell Jacob's scent fading fast. I pulled up and put my bike in to park. I walked over to the front door and knocked.

"It's open." Came Billy's voice.

I opened the door and walked in.

"Hey Billy I just came by to-"

"Jake's not here." He said interrupting me.

"What? He's not supposed to patrol until later."

"You just missed him. We got a letter and a...wedding invitation."

"Bella's wedding?" I asked. He nodded.

"Edward sent it against Bella's wishes. I don't think it was meant to upset Jacob but he left in a hurry."

"I'm sure he'll be fine Billy. He just needs time is all." He nodded again.

"I hope so. You know I'm thinking about going in Jacob's place." He said. I froze. I did not see that coming.

"Uh are you sure?" I asked.

"Yes. I can't say I want to be...friends with the Cullens, but I can't hold a grudge against them anymore. Not one against Carlisle at least. Bella is my best friends daughter and I want her to be happy."

I nodded.

"So do you want someone from the pack to tag along with you?"

"I'm sure Sue would want to go. Her and Charlie are getting...close." He stared off into space with a knowing smirk. _What was that about?_ I thought.

"Well if you do that, Seth's gonna jump on the bandwagon. He really likes Edward, I would dare say he looks up to him."

Billy chuckled.

"I know after Jake started getting better the boy wouldn't stop talking about his first kill. He kept going on about the fight with Edward." He said chuckling. "Gotta love that boy. He's so much like his father."

"Really?" I asked.

"Yeah, Harry was a carefree kinda person. Always going with the flow and never making waves."

"Huh. Well if he goes Sam won't like that too much."

"Me and Sue are members of the council, and we happen to be grown, we can do whatever we like. We don't need Sam's permission to go or who we can bring with us. Actually do you want to go?"

"What like your plus one?" I joked.

"Yes." He said seriously. I just stared at him blankly before I spoke.

"Um I guess. I don't mind the Cullens so it won't be a big deal to me."

"Good. I'll talk to Sue and we'll work something out." he said and I nodded. Just then the phone rang. I was closer to it so I answered.

"Black residence." I answered.

"Um hi is Billy or Jacob there? I really need to speak with one of them." A female voice on the other end asked.

"Sure one second." I handed Billy the phone. "It's for you."

"Hello?" he said.

"Dad? it's me Rachel." Rachel? Oh yeah Jake's older sister.

"Oh sweetheart how are you doing?" he said.

"I'm doing well but who answered the phone when I called?"

"That was you're cousin Thomas. The one I told you about remember?" Wait what did he say exactly?

"Your nephew from the half brother you thought you always had?" she asked. Oh I guess it was everything.

"Yes that one. So what's up?"

"Not much I'll be finished with school soon so I'll be home in about a week and a half."

"That's great sweetheart do you need someone to pick you up?"

"No my roomate is heading to forks to visit family so I'll ride with her."

"Ok I can't wait."

"Me too." She tried to sound enthused but with my wolf hearing I could tell it was forced.

"Bye sweetheart."

"Bye dad." And they hung up.

"One of my little girl's is coming home, ain't that something?" he asked.

"Sure I can't wait to meet her, she seems nice."

"She is." He paused. "I hope Jake isn't gone too long. I hate to think I lost all my kids."

I patted his shoulder.

"You didn't lose your kids uncle Billy, they just needed space. They know you love them and I know they love you."

"Thanks Thomas...did you just call me uncle?"

"Uh yeah. I'll stop if it weirds you out."

"No it's fine." he said smiling.

"Ok do you need anything from the store or something?"

"I'm fine."

"You sure? I could get something if you needed."

"No it's alright Sue will be over later and I can wait."

"Is it ok if I stay until she gets here? I'll feel more at ease."

"Sure." he said shrugging. "But I'm not the most interesting person in the world, so you'll be bored."

"It's fine I have no where else to be." I said smiling. "Not until later on tonight anyway."

"I thought Sam gave you the weekend off?"

"He did but I asked to run with Jake for awhile. He doesn't want the others pity or telling him to get over it. I can keep myself in check and I let him vent when he wants to."

"Thank you."

"Don't even mention it."

"So wanna watch a game or something?" he asked.

"Sure." I said with a shrug.

He clicked on the T.V. and we watched a baseball game waiting for Sue to come over.


	11. Why Him?

T.J. POV

This week I was both excited and pissed. I was excited because I get to meet Rachel, who I've heard nothing but good things about. However, I was pissed because she was going to be imprinted on by Paul Lahote. Yes you heard that right Paul Lahote, the most volatile member of the pack, is going to imprint on my cousin.

I kept doubting what I saw but it was just like all the other times I had a vision. All I know is if he-

"T.J.! Phone call!" came my mother's voice effectively snapping me out of my thoughts. I walked out of my room and into the living room. I saw my mom holding the phone out to me.'Who is it?' I mouthed. 'Billy' she mouthed back. I took it and spoke.

"Hello?"

"Hey Thomas."

"Oh hey Billy what's up?"

"Not much I was wondering if you would wanna meet Rachel tomorrow when she gets here?"

"I'm sure she would rather spend time catching up with you."

"Oh we will but...I kinda want someone to distract her for a bit. Take her mind off of Jake even if it's for a day."

When Rachel called not too long after the first time, she asked to speak to Jake. Billy told her he wasn't home. She said she would call later but Billy said he wouldn't be home then either. When she asked why he said Jake went to do some soul searching. Naturally, she freaked out and assumed the worse. She was mad that Billy didn't tell her sooner and she was mad that Jake just up and left. Billy said that he could take care of himself and so could Jacob.

I sighed before I spoke.

"When do you need me and how long do you want me to distract her?"

"She'll be here around Eleven. Stop by around noon and take her to the beach or something. It would be nice to see you two bond."

"I guess. There's just one problem though." Two problems actually but I didn't say that out loud.

"What's that?" he asked.

"I don't have a car. How am I supposed to take her to the beach? I mean, she could ride on the back of my bike but that would be too weird."

"Hmm maybe Sam could pick you guys up." he murmured.

"Maybe. It's been pretty quiet and we haven't been patrolling much."

"Ok I'll call him and ask just be here tomorrow."

"I will."

"Ok thanks Thomas."

"No problem."

"Bye."

"Bye." And I hung up.

"Is everything alright?" my grandma asked coming out of the kitchen.

"Yeah Billy was just asking if I wanted to hang out with Rachel tomorrow."

"That's nice she's a really sweet girl."

"So I've heard."

"You ok sweetheart?" my mom asked.

"Yes."

"You don't seem like it. Are you worried about meeting Rachel?"

"No that's going to be fine."

"Then what's wrong?"

"She's going to be imprinted on...by Paul."

"Oh lord." was my moms response. My grandma had the opposite.

"That's great."

"Huh?" me and my mom asked.

"They both get to find their soulmate. Paul gets to ease up more and Rachel will stay around."

"But Paul-"

"I know he's not exactly the most even tempered person out there but he's been trying right?"

"Well yeah but-"

"And you don't think Rachel will stay around? Not even for Billy and Jacob?"

"Well no but-"

"Well now she can stay, for all of them."

I couldn't argue with her. Everything she said made perfect sense. I sighed.

"Fine. But I still don't see how having Paul as a soulmate or Son in law/Brother in law or cousin in law in my case is good thing." I huffed. They laughed.

"I'm sure it will be fine honey." My mom said.

"Do you know when it happens?" my grandma asked.

"Not really. It depends on what she wears."

"What do you mean?" they asked.

"When Paul imprints on her, they're both at the beach. He's wearing our trademark look of no shirt and cut offs," I chuckled. "and she's wearing a white shirt and some baggy shorts."

"That's not exactly beach attire." My mom said. I laughed.

"She'll have a bathing suit underneath."

"Ah." was all she said.

After that I had a snack and got ready for patrol. Apart from one nomad, we haven't had any problems lately. Sam doesn't want us to let up just because it's quiet but we don't have the same crazy hours that we used to. Paul, Seth, Leah, and Me tend to patrol more to give the imprinted wolves a break every now and a again. Leah either patrols with Seth or me. The last time she patroled with Paul a fight broke out.

**FLASHBACK**

It was getting close for me and Seth to take over. We both got ready to phase when we heard alot of snarling. We looked through the trees and both of us got worried. Paul and Leah were circling eachother waiting for the other to make a move. Me and Seth exchanged a look and phased.

_Fuck you Paul! You don't get to tell me what to do!_ - Leah snapped.

_I rank higher than you bitch, so yes I do!_ - He snapped back.

_And I rank higher than both of you so knock it off._ - I said.

_Stay out of this!_ -Both of them.

_No. Both of you knock it off and go home. Now!_ - I growled out the last bit.

They were both trying to fight it but I could see their resolve slowly wavering. While a command from a Beta is not as absolute as an Alpha's, it's still meant to be respected. Reluctantly, they went their seperate ways bitching and moaning as they walked. When they both phased out, me and Seth started our shift.

**END FLASHBACK**

Today me and Leah are patroling together. I phased and waited for her to join. Everything should go well since we get out early.

_Matthews! Do you know why Sam won't stop my baby brother from going to that stupid ass wedding?_ - She said. I spoke too soon.

_While Sam is our Alpha, he does not rule over the choices of Billy and Sue. If anything, it's the reverse._

_Why are you going?_

_Because Billy's going and he asked me._

_Why?_

_He said that he wanted Bella to be happy because he's best friends with her father._

_Who the fuck cares about her?_

_Besides the Cullens and her father?_

She rolled her eyes.

_I still don't see why he had to drag my mom into it._

_He said her and Charlie are getting _close_._

_What the hell is that supposed to mean?_

_I don't know ask him or your mother. Anyway, with your mom going, your brother wanted to go too._

She huffed.

_It's stupid._

_What the wedding or all of us going?_

_Both._

_Just because you don't like her doesn't mean what she decided is stupid. Same goes for us attending._

_Whatever._

_Look how about we patrol in silence?_

_Sounds good._

So we did. Since we found nothing I would've ended early but we had to wait for Quil and Embry to show up. About 20 minutes later the both phased in and relieved us.

_About time_. - Leah

_Sorry Claire was being fussy and wouldn't let me leave._ - Quil.

_Yeah I tried to help pry her off but she's pretty stubborn._ - Embry

_It's fine, but try to leave earlier next time ok?_ - Me

_Will do._ - They both said.

Me and Leah both left and phased out. Leah ran home as soon as she was dressed and I just took a walk. I was thinking about how to approach this whole Rachel/Paul thing. Hopefully when it happens I don't lose my cool in front of her. I would hate for her to think that I was psychotic.

~~~~~~~~THE NEXT DAY~~~~~~~~

I left my house and headed for Billy's around 11:30. I could've been there in less than five minutes if I ran. I could have been there in 15 if I went crazy on my bike. But no I had to play human today because Charlie made a snap decision to come over and demand answers about Jacob. I'm driving the freaking speed limit and wearing a helmet. All of this should get Charlie off my back right? Wrong. He'll be giving me a lecture on these "Death machines" as he calls them.

When I pulled up Sam's truck was in front and Sam was standing outside the front door. Right next to that was Charlie's cruiser. I made my way over to Jake's garage so I could leave my bike in there. After I got out I could hear Charlie and Billy arguing.

"He's 16 Billy! He's still a boy." Charlie snapped.

"He's old enough to make his own decisions and I won't force him to do anything he doesn't want too." Billy said calmly.

I walked over to Sam and said.

"How long have they been going at it?" I asked.

"At least 10 minutes." He answered.

"Where's Rachel?"

"Unpacking, that's why Billy's trying to calm him down. He dosen't know she's here."

I nodded. Charlie was going to say something else but I could hear Rachel shuffle into the room.

"Charlie is that you?" she asked.

"Oh hi Rachel I didn't know you were here."

"Just got in. I finished school early. So what happened with Jake?"

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing. And your father isn't taking this as seriously as he should."

"Dad why haven't you been helping?" she asked.

"I already told the both of you why I'm not."

"Don't give me that garbage Billy. He's still a minor."

"Who has my support to take as much time as he needs."

"This isn't over Billy. If you won't help put up flyers or start a search party I know people here who will."

Me and Sam could hear him coming to the door so we moved away. We pretended like we weren't listening when he came out.

"Hello boys." he greeted us.

"Charlie." Sam said with a nod.

"Cheif Swan." I said.

"Please call me Charlie. I take it you were riding the bike, Thomas?" He asked. And here we go.

"Yes Charlie, that was my bike."

"I probably shouldn't have to tell you this, but be careful on those death machines ok?"

"Don't worry Charlie, I'm always responsible."

"Good I would hate to see what happened to Jacob happen to you."

I nodded and made my way to the front door. Before I could knock Charlie started talking again.

"You wouldn't happen to know where Jake is would you?" he asked. I turned to face him.

"No Charlie I don't." It's true none of us did. Everytime the others tried to search his mind he would either block them out or phase back into a human. If I had to take a crack at it, he's probably in northern Canada.

"Would you mind putting up flyers?"

"Sure. I won't be able to put them up today though. I sorta promised Billy that I would meet Rachel."

"Ok I have a few in my car." He turned to Sam. "Could you help him?"

"Sure." he said with a nod. Too bad it was a lie though. The second Charlie's gone, the flyers will be too.

"Well I better go in." I said.

"Have fun with Rachel. She's a sweet girl."

"I will." I said and I knocked. "Come in." Billy said. I opened it and walked in. Billy was rolling out the kitchen and in to the living room.

"Hey Billy." I greeted.

"What happend to Uncle Billy?" he teased. I rolled my eyes.

"Where was this line of inquiry when you called me yesterday?" I asked arching an eyebrow. He shrugged.

"Just thought you got tired of calling me that. Anyway, Rachel!" he called.

"No it's ok Billy she must be busy." I said. He didn't get a chance to answer because Rachel shuffled in to the room.

She stood there and and it wasn't difficult to see the Black family resemblance. She had the same nose and dark eyes that Billy and Jacob had. It was hard to see how long her hair was because she pulled it back. It was probably waist length like most of the women had on the rez, save for Leah and Sue. I smiled shyly and waved.

"Hi." I said. God I feel like a little kid meeting another one for the first time.

She crossed the room and pulled me into a hug. I froze for a second before I hugged her back. She pulled away from me.

"Sorry about that." She started. "When I get nervous I tend to do things like that." she giggled. I smiled at her.

"It's fine. It's nice to meet you."

"Same here." She said patting my arm. She patted it a few more times while she frowned in confusion. She held her hand there and brought her free hand to my face. She tried to reach my forehead but settled for my cheek. I frowned for for second because I wasn't sure what she was doing until she exclaimed.

"You're burning up!"

Shit.

"Uh don't worry about I just run a higher temprature is all."

"Are you sure? It feels like your on fire."

"Seriously I'm healthy as a horse." _Or a wolf_ I added mentally.

She eyed me suspiciously before she dropped her hands. I shot a look at Billy who was relieved that she dropped the subject.

"So," Billy started. "You feel like going to the beach Rachel?"

She turned to him and shrugged.

"I guess so." She turned to me. "I guess your supposed to take me?"

"Well we're riding with Sam."

"Uley?"

"Yeah."

"Ok give me a sec to change and pack a bag."

"I'll be outside." I said. She nodded and left the room. I turned to Billy.

"That was close."

"I know. Don't worry about the others, I asked Sam to tell them to keep quiet."

"About everything?"

"Yes."

"Ok well I better go." I said and he nodded. I walked outside and went to find Sam. He was leaning against his truck. I went over and stood next to him.

"So far so good." I said.

"Yeah. Like Billy said no one's going to say anything."

"So what do we do if she asks me and you questions?" I asked.

"Just reply as calmly as possible." Was his response.

"No, because I would snap at any second." I said with an eye roll.

"You know what I meant."

I didn't get to respond because we heard Billy talking.

"Have fun Rachel." He exclaimed.

"I will." she said

About 10 seconds later the front door opened and I froze. There was Rachel, dressed in a white shirt and baggy shorts._ No! it couldn't be today. She just got here!_ I thought. She jogged over to me and Sam.

"Hey Rachel." he greeted.

"Wow Sam you look so different. Was I really gone that long?" she asked. He chuckled.

"No I just did some last minute growing." he laughed. She smiled at him but lost that smile when she looked at me.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing it's just I'm pretty sure you can't do alot of swimming in that." I said motioning to her outfit. She laughed.

"Don't worry I have a bathing suit underneath."

"Ah." Was all I could say on the outside. On the inside I was cursing the day Paul was born.

"Well let's get going." Sam declared. Rachel sat in front with Sam and I rode in the back. The drive to first beach wasn't that long and there wasn't too many people in the parking lot. When we got out I could see most of the pack, including Paul. I took a deep breath and jumped out of the truck.

"When was the last time you came here?" I asked Rachel.

"Oh it's been awhile." she said with a sad smile.

"Well we got the rest of the day to start making up for it." I said smiling. She smiled back. We made our way over to the beach and we were greeted by Seth.

"Rachel!" he exclaimed and pulled her into a hug. She didn't hug him back for a second and I got worried.

"Seth put her down." Sam said.

He put her down and looked at her sheepishly. "Sorry Rachel."

"It's fine I just can't believe it's you. You look so...grown up." She said giving him a once over. He grinned at her.

"It's just a growth spurt." He said.

"And yet your still so short." I said ruffling his hair.

"Hey!" he whined.

"What? it's gonna get messed up when you go in the water."

"Not that. Well yeah that's one thing but it's not my fault you're a freaking giant."

"I'm not that tall."

"Oh please you're the same size as Sam."

I shook my head at him but when I looked over at Sam, we were standing eye level. _He was always been at least 3 inches taller than me_ I thought.

"I guess I grew an inch or two in the pass couple months." I said shrugging.

"Yeah I guess you're not done growing." Rachel said. "Anyway enough of that all of you are making me feel like a dwarf, can we go for a swim?" she asked.

_No_ I thought. "Sure." I said. We all walked over to water where the pack had formed a small gathering near the rocks.

"You can leave your stuff with them Rachel." Seth said. She nodded. When we were about 5 feet from the group, Paul looked up. He looked at me then he looked at Rachel and froze. I saw Rachel do the same thing. I looked at the faces of the others and they all were holding their breath. I looked at Paul and started growling low in my throat.

"Seth take Rachel for a swim. I need to talk to Paul for a second." I ground out.

"Gotcha. C'mon Rach, we got some catching up to do." He said and I heard them heading to the water. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Rachel look over her shoulder a few times. And each time she was looking at me and Paul. Paul was following her with his eye's.

"_Lahote_." I sneered.

He turned his attention to me. His expression wasn't smug or anything he remotley does on a regular basis. His face was blank but his eyes told another story. They were happy, no happy isn't a strong enough word to describe it. They were...complete. I took one step forward but I was stopped by someone grabbing my arm. I looked to see who it was and I wasn't exactly surprised. Sam had a vice grip on my arm that, if I were still human, he probably would have broken it.

"Now is not the time for this." He said shaking his head slowly.

"I was just going to talk to him." I said as calmly as I could.

"No, you were going to cause a scene over something he couldn't control." he retorted.

I looked down at his hand then back to his face.

"If anyone is causing a scene, it's _you_ almighty Alpha." I snapped and after a few seconds he dropped his hand. "I know he can't control something like this. I was just going to lay down some ground rules for him."

"Such as?"

"He needs to talk to Billy about this. Billy needs to help him figure out a way to explain this to Rachel. She's not gonna be staying long so if anything is going to come out of this, it needs to happen soon."

"Why isn't she staying long?" Paul asked speaking for the first time.

"Too many bad memories here, Billy and Jacob aren't enough for her to stay." I said.

"When is she leaving?" he asked.

"I don't know. If Jacob was still here her visit might have been shorter."

"How do you know all of this?" Sam asked. I turned to him.

"I've been hanging out with Billy remember? He's afraid of losing all of his kids now. He won't have to worry about Rachel, although..." I trailed off and looked at Paul. "I'm not sure how he'll feel about having you as future son in law."

He didn't say anything he just turned his head in the direction Rachel went in.

"This next one only you'll be able to do Sam," I said turning to him. "He can't phase for awhile and you have to order everyone else to not think about it when we patrol."

"Why?" the others asked at the same time.

"Because of Jacob." Sam started. "Who knows how he will react when he finds out about this. So from now on no one will mention or think about this until further notice. Is that understood?." He asked. They all nodded. "Anything else Beta?"

"This last one is more of a promise on my part." I said and made my way to kneel down next to Paul.

"Thomas." Sam warned. I held my hand up so I could speak.

"Listen to me, _Paul_." I started and he turned to face me. "If you even_ think_ about hurting her, I will hurt you in ways that will make small children cry when they see you." I paused and his eyes widened.

"I wouldn't-"

"I'm. Not. Finished." I said gritting my teeth. He snapped his mouth shut.

"If you ever lose control around her, I will make sure that no on one finds your body. "

I paused so I could let that sink in. No one interrupted me so I continued.

"And if you think about..._doing_ things that are not appropriate with her, I will make sure you can never please a woman again." I paused to look at the others. I leaned in closer so I could whisper something else to him. " And no one will be able to stop me." I said and he swallowed hard.

I got up, took off my shirt, and left the group to join Rachel and Seth in the water.

SAM POV

We all just stayed frozen like statues. Shock wouldn't be able to cover what we feel.

"Where did that come from?" Jared asked.

"Who the hell knows. Just be glad you weren't on the recieving end." Embry said looking at Paul.

Paul hasn't said a word since T.J. left. He keeps staring off into space with a smile on his lips. He's probably thinking about Rachel.

"Look," I started and they looked at me. "I'm just as surprised as everyone else by what just happened but we should know T.J. by now. He cares more about others than he does himself. He was probably thinking how this would affect Billy and Jacob. I mean we can't really be sure about Jacob's reaction's but we can all take a wild guess." I said and they nodded.

"Paul." I called and he looked at me. "You really need to focus on calming down ok? I agree with most of what was said. Apart from the threats of course." I chuckled. He nodded and stood up.

"I should prepare something for when I speak to Billy."

"If you need help, come talk to me."

He nodded and tried to take a few steps but he stopped and hugged his chest. He looked over to where Rachel was and he looked pained.

"Don't worry she'll be fine. Go on."

He moved stiffly before breaking into a sprint. I hope this get's easier for everyone.

~~~~~~~~ FOUR WEEKS LATER ~~~~~~~~

When Paul and Billy broke the news to Rachel, she thought they had lost their minds. In order to prove it to her, Paul went outside and phased.

**FLASHBACK**

I was standing outside of Billy's house waiting for Paul to come out. I had a vision that he would leave the house pissed off about something. I didn't know what it was and I didn't know what he would do next. When he knocked on the door earlier, I was already hanging out with Billy and Rachel. I walked over to answer it.

_"Uh is Billy or Rachel home?" he asked._

_"Yeah they are. Come inside." I opened the door and let him in._

_Rachel and him have gotten close in the passing days. He thought it was enough time to fill her in._

_"Um can I speak to you two." He glanced over at me. "Alone."_

_"I'll be outside." I said and went out before Rachel and Billy could say anything._

That was 5 minutes ago. I've been pacing and trying my best not to listen. The front door flew open and Paul ran out of the house. He leapt into the air and phased on the fly.

"Paul! what the hell were you thinking?" I chided. I heard a gasp behind me. I turned around and saw Rachel standing there in awe. Billy was right behind her and he looked pissed. I turned back to Paul.

"Go into the forest and wait."

He looked at Rachel and whined.

"I'll go over there and make sure she's fine. But you need to go into the forest before someone else sees you."

He looked at her again and trotted off into the forest. I turned around and ran to the house.

"Are you ok?" I asked Rachel.

"Was that really Paul?" she asked.

"Yes."

"So it's all true?"

"Yes."

She looked to the forest again.

"He's so..." Stupid? Reckless?

"So..."

"Beautiful." She said. I rolled my eyes. Well I guess this will work out better than I thought.

**END FLASHBACK**

That was three weeks ago. I gave them space and in the mean time I was either hanging out with Billy, patroling, working or finishing my tattoo. I finished the front awhile ago, today I'm doing the back. On the front I have a trail of black triangles that outlines my pec. Next to that is a row of diamonds that curves upward. Next to that is three rows with three seperate designs. The first one is a spearhead design that has a thin black line going through it. The next row has a triagular design. The bottom trangles each have four lines that slant to the left. The top triangles have four lines the slant the opposite way. The next row has nine lines the curve slightly, and each have two lines that connect to one end and are parallel to eachother. Below that, was a bird design that was broken into two pieces. The top half was the head and the wings. The other part was the lower body that goes to a point and has a diamond for a tail.

On my back there are five different pieces. The first piece that's near my shoulder has a design that curves five times. The next one has a row of black lines that form six squares. Inside each square was a black circle. The last three pieces consisted of a black block, another with a semi circle, and another that has a tragular design.

"This is the last leg I'm afraid." Jug said with a sigh.

"You act as if I won't ask for more work or even some of your artwork. Which I would be more than happy-"

"I'll bring some samples over and you can pick whichever one you want."

"You didn't let me finish."

"Because I knew what you were going to say. I told you no time and time again. Do you not know the meaning of the word?"

I sighed and didn't say anything else. About 5 minutes later he said I was done. He repeated the same process of cleaning me up and putting his stuff away. I pulled him into a hug with one hand and fisted my pocket with the other.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

I didn't answer, I just pulled out my wad of cash and put it in his pocket. He tried to break away but I had a decent grip on him.

"Just take it. It's not like you'll be cursed if you take my money."

"That's not the point. We agreed that you wouldn't pay me." He argued.

"No, you were too stubborn to let me pay. I wanted to talk about it, you didn't. Look bro just take it, it's no biggie."

He nodded reluctantly but said. "If you want another tattoo or sample you better not pay. Or I'll sever all ties with you." He told me seriously. I grinned at him.

"Ok." I told him. He grabbed his stuff and left. I walked into Sam and Emily's kitchen and was greeted by Rachel.

"Hey cos!"

"Hey Rach. What's up?"

"Not much. Um could we go for a walk? Just you and me?" she asked.

"I don't think your gaurd dog would appreciate that." I said. And on cue, Paul came into the house.

"Babe what's wrong? What did I do?" he asked. I rolled my eyes and so did Rachel.

"Nothing Paul, I just want to spend time with my cousin. Is that so wrong?"

He glanced at me and back to her.

"Ok...just be careful." Me and Rachel rolled our eyes again. She walked over to me, grabbed my arm, and pulled me away. Well she tried to and I let her. When we got out of ear shot of everyone I started to speak.

"So what do want to do?"

"Just talk."

"About?" I prompted.

"Jacob."

I had a feeling this was going to come up. I had one of my day dreams yesterday, and in it me and Rachel were walking. Hopefully this goes well. We sat on the ground and I started the conversation off.

"What about him?"

"Everything. Paul has only told me bits and pieces but I can tell he's hiding stuff."

"Well about how about you ask me some questions and I'll answer them as honestly as possible."

"Ok, why did he leave?" She asked.

"Paul didn't tell you?" I asked. She shook her head.

"It kept saying it's 'her fault for hanging out with leeches' but he never said who."

I sighed.

"You know Charlie right?" I asked and she nodded.

"You know his daughter, right?"

"Isabella?" she asked. I nodded.

"What about her?"

"Well, she moved here in her Junior year, and met Edward Cullen. Did Paul tell you about them?"

She nodded.

"Vampires right?"

I nodded.

"I won't got too heavily into detail because I don't know that much but I'll give you the main points ok?" God I really hate lying to her. Hopefully I won't make a habit out of this.

She nodded

"Well she and Edward got close and they started dating. She was attacked by a nomad not to long after and he saved her. The following year though, he left her because he thought it would be best if he wasn't around her. She was depressed for months and Jake was there to heal her."

I paused to let that sink in.

"He started developing feelings for her. Feelings she didn't return and at the same time a vampire was trying to kill her."

Her eyes went wide.

"What? Why?"

"From what I understand, the nomad that tried to kill Bella before, he had a mate. His mate tried many times to kill her but Sam and the others stopped her."

I paused.

"Jake was with Bella when Alice Cullen came back. Alice is a very gifted vampire, she can see the future. She had a vision of Bella jumping off of a cliff. She thought Bella committed suicide and came to see if it was true. They talked for awhile and Bella's phone went off. Jacob answered it and he wasn't exactly friendly to the other person on the end."

I looked at her and she frowned.

"Why, who was it?"

"The person claimed to be Carlisle Cullen, but it was Edward. He asked to speak to Charlie, and Jacob said he wasn't there. When Edward asked where he was Jacob said he was helping to plan a funeral."

I paused again to see if she would catch on. After a few seconds she did.

"He thought it was a funeral for Bella didn't he?"

"Yep. Alice had a vision about Edward trying to kill himself."

"Why?"

"Edward and Bella are soulmates. Edward thought he was doing the right thing but both of them were hurting."

I paused again.

"Bella was gone for three days. She went to go save him from... well I might tell you about that later. When she came back they were reconciled."

"Wait she just took him back? She forgave him that easily?"

"She said there was nothing to forgive. She saw how being apart nearly destroyed them both and she vowed that they shouldn't be seperated again."

"Were you there when this happend?" she asked and I shook my head.

"Well then how did you know about all of this?"

"Did Paul tell about we communicate when we're wolves?" I asked and she nodded.

"Well Bella explained a bit of it to Jacob and we all saw it in his head."

"But that doesn't explain why he left."

"I'm getting there just be patient." I chuckled.

I paused.

"Jake was hurting when she went back to them. He tried to get over her but he can't. She wanted him to be her life. I mean wouldn't you want your best friend to be in your life? But he drew a line in the sand and said that it couldn't work."

Pause.

"There was a whole lot of drama between Edward and Jacob. Jacob snuck into their territory to check on Bella. She was gone for three days because she was visiting family. Jacob went to check on her and warn her about the danger she was in. The vampire who was trying to kill her was still around. She snuck away once and she told him about all this stuff I just told you."

Pause.

"One time, Jacob snuck out again to get Bella and bring her over. She told him her plan about becoming a vampire and he wasn't to pleased with that."

"What did he say?" she asked.

"That he would rather she be dead. And he wishes she were." I said bluntly. I could here her mutter the word jerk.

"She didn't come back for awhile and when she did he told her he was in love with her. She said that she did love him but only as a friend. He thought she was being stubborn so he took upon himself to force her to kiss him."

"He did what!" She shrieked. I had to cover my ears because it was so loud.

"Jeeze Rach I'm right here. No need to be so loud."

"Oh sorry. So what happened next?"

"She punched him but instead of hurting him she broke her hand." I said and she shook her head.

"What happened next?"

"Edward found out threatend him. That night they both declared that they wouldn't play fair."

"What do you mean?"

"You'll see in a bit."

Pause

"Before Jacob did what he did, Bella invited him to her graduation party. Sam didn't want him to go but I convinced him to. Sam's one condition was I would be his Beta. It was there that we found out about the cause of those murders in Seattle. An army was created to take out Bella. We convinced Sam to join forces with the Cullens. We learned alot and he started to slowly trust them."

Pause

"Before we got into the fight with the army, Edward and Bella had a conversation about their engagement." I looked at her and her eyes were bugging out.

"They're getting married?" she asked and I nodded.

"But how? why? he's not-"

"Not human?" I said finishing her sentence.

"Yeah."

"I spoke to Edward about it. He's said it was the only thing she would agree on. He kept trying to change her mind about being with him, being one of them, but she's very stubborn."

"Anyway I was getting off track. Jacob found out and he was pissed. Edward did it on purpose and Bella felt awful about him finding out like that."

"What did Jacob do?"

"Well Edward somehow convinced him to talk to Bella so she could apologize. Remember when I said they both agreed that they wouldn't play fair?"

She nodded.

"What I forgot to mention was that Edward said if Bella asked Jacob to kiss her, he wouldn't touch Jacob. Jacob tricked Bella into asking her to kiss him."

"How?"

"He said he would get himself killed in the fight."

"What!" she shrieked. I covered my ears again

"Sorry it's just hard to imagine Jacob doing that."

"Yeah well it worked, she kissed him. I was in his head and I had to fight the urge to heave. Anyway towards the tail end of the fight Jacob got hurt trying to save one of us."

She was going to shriek again but I held my hand up to stop her.

"His entire right half of his body was shattered. Good thing the patriarch of the Cullens is a doctor and he was willing to help us out. Didn't take too long to reset everything. It was a very eventful day."

We went slient for about a minute. I broke the silence to tell her the rest.

"Jacob left the first time you called. He got a wedding invitation from Edward. It wasn't sent to piss him off but rather to give him the option to go. I guess he just couldn't take it so he left."

We went quiet again.

"Thank you, for telling me that." She said and I shook my head.

"Don't mention it. Let's get back before Paul starts a search party. It wouldn't surprise me if your face was already on a milk carton." I chuckled and she rolled her eyes.

I stood and held my hand out. She took it and I pulled her up. We walked for a bit before she asked.

"So did my dad get rid of the wedding invitation?" She asked. I frowned.

"No. He's attending with me and the Clearwater's, well minus Leah."

"What!" she shrieked.

"You didn't know?" I asked.

"No I didn't know anything about this. When were you going to tell me?"

She kept going on and on and I tried to change the topic. She wouldn't let me and I know that the rest of my day just got a little crazy because of my big mouth. Oh well.


	12. Breaking Away

T.J. POV

Today is the big day. Today is Edward and Bella's wedding. For awhile now, Leah has been trying to convince her mother not to go. Sue said she's going for both Billy and Charlie, to offer her support. She tried to tell her to leave Seth home, but she got shot down again. Rachel wasn't so bad, she was more upset that Billy didn't tell her he was going. She volunteered to help drive us there but Sue said we could handle it. I was at Billy's house talking with Rachel before we had to head out.

"Are you sure you don't need help?" Rachel asked.

"Yes we'll be fine Rach, don't worry so much." I chuckled.

"I can't help it, I'll be a nervous wreck until you guys get back."

"Why? The Cullens won't hurt us and not because they're not allowed to, but because they won't."

"It's not that, it's Jake."

"Rachel, he'll be fine. Bella made her choice, Jacob will just have to accept it." I said sighing.

Jacob called us a few days ago saying he was coming back. He wanted to say his goodbye to Bella in the hope he could finally let her go.

"He better." Leah muttered from the couch.

"What's wrong Clearwater? Afraid you'll dream about-"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence!" she growled.

The same week Jacob left, Leah had a dream about her kissing Bella. Most of the pack didn't really say anything except Jake and Embry. Jake gave her some shit for it, mostly because she blamed his feelings for Bella to be the reason she had the dream. Embry thought it was hot and Leah punched him in the face.

Rachel was looking between the to us trying to figure out what was going on.

"Are you going to fill me in?" she asked.

I leaned in closer.

"Maybe later." I whispered.

"No you won't!" Leah roared and I busted out laughing. In the kitchen I could hear Seth laughing too.

"Jeeze Lee it was just a dream." He said.

"Yeah it's nothing to be ashamed of." I said.

"Will the both of you shut up? I was finally starting to forget about that, and you had to bring it up." She huffed and crossed her arms.

I didn't get to respond because Billy wheeled himself into the living room with Sue right behind him.

"Everyone ready?" he asked.

I nodded and Seth came out of the kitchen.

"Let's go!" he exclaimed.

"What's the rush little brother?" I said ruffling his hair.

"Stop it!" He whined swatting my hand away. "I worked hard on making my hair look good."

"Oh please, all you did was run it under a faucet and applied a massive amount of cheap hair gel." I said. He rolled his eyes and walked pass me.

All of us headed out to Sue's car. I helped Billy get into the passenger seat, and I put his chair in the trunk.

"How are they even going to do this? The sun's still out won't they blow up or something?" Rachel asked and I had to fight the urge to laugh.

"No they won't, but I'm not sure how they will do this." I said.

"I talked to Edward about it, he said Alice has it covered." Seth said.

I shrugged.

"If he says so."

We all piled in to the car and made our way over to the Cullens place. When we got there we had trouble finding parking.

"Did Sam tell you about the additional vampires?" Billy asked trying to pass the time.

Carlisle called Sam earlier in the week to tell him about some relatives of his that were coming to the wedding.

"Yeah he told me there were going to be four more vampires here. Carlisle says they're family and they have the same diet as the Cullens." I answered.

"What else did he say?"

"That he trust Carlisle's judgement but he'll be staying close anyway."

"Why?"

"Because of Jacob."

We went silent and Sue found us a parking spot. I climbed out of the car, and Sue popped the trunk so I could get Billy's chair. I helped him into it and we made our way over to the other guest. We were greeted by Emmett and Jasper.

"Hey guys!" Seth exclaimed.

"What's going on little man?" Emmett said.

"Good to see you." Jasper said.

"Same here. So where do we sit?" I asked.

"Come on I'll show you." He said.

He lead us down this path way that lead into the forest. There were rows of chairs on either side of the aisle where Bella will be walking. There were flowers hanging from the trees efectively blocking the sun.

"I take it that was Alice's idea?" I asked Jasper while I was eyeballing the flowers.

"Yep."

"Nice."

He lead us to our seats in the last row and we all sat down. There were at least 60 plus guests a good chunk of which were human. I could hear alot of the hushed conversations but one stood out the most.

"I wonder if they're related?"

"If they are, that is one hell of a gene pool."

They must be talking about Carlisle's relatives.

"Are you two done drooling now?"

There was a pause before that same person spoke again.

"I wonder if she'll be showing?"

Me and Seth looked at eachother and rolled our eyes.

"Jess she is not pregnant."

"Oh yeah? Well who else get's married at 18 these days?"

Ok she had a point but was it really necessary to think that was the reason for this wedding? For the next 5 minutes, the Cullens ushered people to their seats. I guess the ceremony is gonna start soon. The band started playing some music and we all started to stand. Bella was walking down the aisle with Charlie. She looked really nervous. I couldn't tell if it was because she was getting married or if she was afraid she would fall over.

We all watched her walk down the aisle and as she got closer to Edward she seemed to relax. When she was standing next to him, the pastor said "You may now be seated." And we sat down.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we are gathered here on this glorious day, to witness the union, of Bella Swan and Edward Cullen. If there is anyone who objects, speak now or foerever hold your peace." He said addressing us and when no one said anything he turned to Edward. "Place the ring on her finger and please repeat after me. I, Edward Cullen..."

"I, Edward Cullen..."

"Take you Bella Swan..." The preacher continued.

"Take you Bella Swan..."

"To have and to hold..."

"To have and to hold..."

"For better or for worse..."

"For better or for worse..."

"For richer or for poorer..."

"For richer or for poorer..."

"In sickness and in health..."

"In sickness and in health..."

"To love and to cherish as long as we both shall live..."

"To love and to cherish as long as we both shall live..."

He turned to Bella and repeated the process. After that he started the I do's with Edward.

"Do you Edward Cullen, take Bella Swan to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

"I do." He answered and the preacher turned to Bella.

"Do you Bella Swan, take Edward Cullen to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

"I do."

"Then by the powers vested in my by the state of Washington, I now pronounce you Husband and Wife. You may now kiss the bride."

"I love you so much." Edward said.

"I love you too." Was her response and they kissed. The kissed lasted alot longer than most of the kisses you see in the movies. I was tempted to tell them to get a room but I'm not one to ruin a happy moment. When they were finished, we all stood up and applauded. Not long after that Carlisle announced that we should head towards the house for the reception. By that time the sun was setting.

The set up near the house was like something out of a Hollywood movie. There was tables of food that looked like it was prepared by the finest chef's in the world. The champange and wine was of the highest and most expensive quality. The lighting and decorations were very romantic. The band had mainly string instruments save for the Piano. They music they were playing was very light and easy going. Most of the guest were seated and some were trying to congratulate the newlyweds.

"We should wait in line to wish them well now before the entire state decides to show up." I suggested to the group. They all nodded and we went to stand in line. It wasn't so bad there were at least 2 groups ahead of us. They had about 2 to 3 people each. While we were waiting I got hit with these scents of olive oil, a box of cigars, grapes, and buttercream. The last one was very appealing to me and I have no idea why. I wonder who they belong too?

Before I knew it we were in front of Edward and Bella.

"Hey!" Seth exclaimed pulling Edward into a hug. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Sue tense up. "I'm happy for you. For the both of you." he said letting go of Edward so he could hug Bella.

"Thank you Seth." he said.

I closed the gap between me and Edward and did the same thing.

"Congratulations man." I said.

"Thank you Thomas."

"T.J." I corrected while I pulled away.

"What?"

"My friends and family call me T.J. They only call me Thomas when they want to be formal, or if they want to yell at me." I chuckled and so did he.

"Thank you T.J."

"Don't mention it." I made my way over to Bella and did the same thing. When I pulled away she was smiling at me.

"Thank you for coming."

"No problem." I said and moved out of the way so Billy andd Sue could talk.

"Congratulations you two." Sue said with a nod. Edward and Bella nodded back.

"I hope you'll be happy Bella." Billy said looking at her. He turned to Edward and held out his hand. "The both of you."

Edward shook his hand and thanked him. Bella did the same thing.

"Have you heard from him?" She asked Billy. Wasn't difficult to know who she was talking about.

"I'm sure Jacob wishes you the best." he said. Just then, Charlie joined us.

"Well I plan on getting drunk." He said and we laughed.

"Why chief Swan, I'm surprised at you. Surely a man in your position would set a better example." I teased and he scoffed.

"Whatever." He turned to Sue. "They're serving some fancy schmancy beverages. Could I get you one?"

Me and Billy shared knowing looks before Billy spun his chair around.

"I thought you'd never ask." He said while looking at Charlie. He wheeled away and Charlie and Sue followed.

"We better join them." I said addressing Edward and Bella. "Enjoy the rest of your night. C'mon Seth."

I threw one arm over his shoulder.

"Later guys!" He called over his shoulder. We walked over to where the adults were standing. Not too long after that, that scent was calling to me again. It was followed by a voice.

"Edward, you're looking well."

_That voice sounds amazing._ I thought.

"So do you Tanya."

_Is that what she really sounds like?_

"Tanya, Kate, Carmen, Eleazar, this my Bella. Bella these are my cousins from Alaska."

"We've heard so much about you." Another female voice said.

"Welcome to the family." A heavily accented male voice.

There was another female voice but she said something in Spanish. From the tone though, she seemed very pleasant.

"It's a pleasure to meet all of you." Bella squeaked.

"I hope you can forgive us for...abandoning you in your time of need." Tanya said.

I had to fight the urge to turn around and rush over to her and pull her into a hug.

_What the hell is wrong with me?_

"There's nothing to forgive Tanya. We all made it out fine and we made some new friends in the process." Edward said.

_I wonder if she looks as amazing as she sounds._

Before I could turn around, I was snapped out of my thoughts by Seth tapping my shoulder.

"Carlisle's coming." He said. I followed his line of sight and Carlisle was fast approaching. Well as fast as he could while still pretending to be human.

"Hello everyone." he said with a warm smile.

"Hey doc." Said Seth.

"Carlisle." Me, and Billy said at the same time. Sue just nodded.

"What's going on?" Charlie asked.

"Well it's almost time for the speeches. I came to give you a heads up to take your seats."

"Thank you." We said and made our way over to our respective tables. Charlie was seated near Edward and Bella. We were seated close to the stage and I felt like someone was watching me but I just brushed it off. When everyone was finally seated, Emmett was the first to speak. His opening was great but his jokes fell flat. The next speaker was one of Bella's classmates. Her voice reminded me of silverware being thrown into a garbage disposal. I could have sworn I saw blood trickilng out of Seth's ears. Poor guy.

Alice was going on about how Bella and her will have many great shopping trips in the future. Most of what Charlie said was not so subtle threats towards Edward. Her mother was very...interesting. She kept on trying to sing to Bella.

"Is she always like that?" I whispered to Billy.

"Rene?" He asked. I nodded.

"Well she's always been quite the character." He chuckled.

"Should I feel bad for Bella right now?" I asked. He shrugged and we looked over at her. She was trying to laugh but it wasn't difficult to tell that she was mortified.

"Looks like it." He said with a small laugh. I nodded in agreement.

Edward was next to speak but I didn't pay much attention to him, because I could smell Jacob. He was close by and me and Seth had to get ready soon. I tapped Seth on the shoulder and whispered.

"Jake's here. After Edward's done speaking we should get Billy and your mom out of here."

He nodded and we waited. Edward's speech was very short and sweet. When everyone made their way to the dance floor Me and Seth were trying to convince Sue and Billy to go home.

"He's here Billy, you and Sue should head out early. We'll meet up with you later." I told him.

"You sure?" he asked.

"I'm sure. We'll come straight to La Push right after we're done."

"Ok."

"Do you need help with the car?" I asked.

"No I'm gonna hang out with Charlie for a bit and we'll head out. You and Seth should head over to Jacob."

"Ok we will. Come on Seth." I said calling him over.

"Take care of him Thomas." Sue said sternly.

"Mom! I'll be fine." Seth whined. I chuckled.

"Don't worry Sue I'll look after him." I said reassuringly. She nodded and her and Billy went to talk to Charlie. Me and Seth headed deeper into the forest to watch over Jake. Sam, Quil, and Embry were in their wolf forms and they were staring at the spot where Jacob was standing.

Edward and Bella came into view not too long after.

"What's out here?" She asked.

"A last minute present." He paused. "It's very kind of you to do this." He said addressing Jacob.

"Well kind is my middle name." Jacob said.

"Jake? Is that you?" Bella asked squinting her eyes.

"No it's the boogie man. Who else would it be Bells?" He said sarcastically.

"Jake!" She exclaimed jogging over to him and pulled him into a hug.

"It's good to see you." He said.

"I'll go see if Rosalie wants to dance." Edward said. He walked away to give them space. Jacob and Bella started slow dancing not too long after. Things seemed to be going well but considering Bella's luck, I won't hold my breath. She started sniffling and I thought Jacob was holding her a little too tight until he spoke.

"What's wrong Bell's?"

"Nothing."

"Stop lying Bell's. Why are you crying?"

"It just feels right is all. And people cry at weddings all the time."

"Yeah but this is what you wanted right?" he asked.

"Of course."

"Then you should be happy."

They went quiet for a minute or so.

"So where did you go?" She asked.

"Just around." Was his resonse.

They went quiet again.

"How did the Cullens take to Seth and Thomas being here?" He asked.

"They didn't mind. Seth and T.J. get along-"

"What did you just call him?" He asked interrupting her.

"T.J. Why?"

"No reason it's just every time you or the others talk to him you say Thomas."

"Well he said his friends and family call him that. So I just started calling him that."

"I guess he considers all of you friends. Weird." He said. _Yeah I consider them friends, what was so weird about that?_ I thought.

"They're good people Jake, you know that."

"Sure, sure." He said.

I rolled my eyes and so did Bella.

"I'll miss this." He said.

"Miss what?" She asked.

"You like this. Your pink cheeks, your warmth, your beating heart. I'm just trying to soak this up since this is your last night as a human."

"It's not." She said. He frowned.

"Why are you putting it off?"

"I didn't want to be writhing in pain on my honeymoon." She said and he shrugged.

"So what are you going to do instead, play checkers? Cause we both know you can't have a real honeymoon." He said.

"No we're not and I can have a real honeymoon." She snapped. Uh oh.

His hands dropped to his side as he examined her face.

"What do you mean you can have a real honeymoon?"

"Well it's really none of your business."

I took a cautious step forward and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Seth do the same. We sped up our pace when he grabbed her arms and shook her.

"Jake let go your hurting me." She said.

"What the hell are you thinking Bella? He'll kill you!" He said raising his voice.

Me and Seth sprinted over to him and Edward appeared in front of him.

"You need to let her go and back away." He said in a calm voice but the look on his face was anything but calm. Me and Seth pulled him away from Bella. Seth was behind him holding his arms back, I was in front of him with my hands on his shoulder pushing him back.

"Let me go. I need to kill me a leech!" He roared.

"No you don't. We are going home. Now." I commanded.

"Why are you defending him?" He sneered.

"I'm defending _them_. They have done nothing wrong."

"_Yet_. You know as well as I do that this will end badly." He spat.

"She made her choice Jacob, she's not our concern any more." I said and I managed to push him all the way to Sam and Embry who used the wolf heads to push him all the way to La Push. Me and Seth turned around and Quil was glaring at Edward.

"Quil!" I yelled and he turned to me." Go home, we'll be right behind you." If it was possible for a wolf to look incredulous, Quil would be giving me that look."Go." I said softly. He hesitated but after one more glance in Edwards direction he trotted off.

"I'm sorry." Bella whispered.

"There's nothing to apologize for love." Edward said.

"Yeah Jake's just acting stupid." Seth added.

"Don't beat yourself up Bella, just enjoy life as a married woman. Forget that this even happened." I said and I saw Edward nod his thanks to us. "Please enjoy the rest of your night. Let's go Seth." I said and started walking away. "Later guys." Seth said in sad tone. It was weird hearing him speak like that. He and Alice were cut from the same cloth when it came to excitment.

Me and Seth didn't phase we just walked back. I suggested that we let Jake cool off for a bit before we started welcoming him back. It took us about an hour and half before we reached Billy's house. Before the house came into view I saw Seth go stiff.

"What is it?"

"We need to move!" he yelled and ran top speed towards the house. I quickly followed suit. When the house came into view the one thing I was hoping to avoid for a day was playing out in front of me. Jacob had Paul pinned against the side of the house by his throat and even though Rachel's back was turned to me, I could tell she was crying.

"Jacob please don't hurt him!" She wailed.

"What the fuck were you doing kissing my sister Paul!" He yelled. The look on his face was down right murderous and the look on Paul's face was something I never thought I would see him wear: Fear. I couldn't tell if it was because Jacob had him pinned or if it was because Rachel was so close.

"Seth get Rachel inside!" I ordered. I saw him put his arm around her shoulder and tried to get her in the house. She tried to get away but Seth had a firm grip on her and he ushered her inside. I pushed myself to go faster towards Jacob and tackled him. We wrestled for a bit before I pinned him down.

"Get off of me!" He said trying to break away from my grip.

"No. Paul get out of here." I called over my shoulder.

"But-"

"That is an order, Paul. Go, he won't hurt Rachel but he will hurt you."

I didn't here him leave. He must be conflicted.

"Please Paul enough shit has happened tonight let's not add anymore ok?"

It was silent for a few seconds before I heard him walk away.

"Let me up." Jacob said.

"No. Tell me what happened."

"I came home, Rachel was badgering me with questions and Leah was being a bitch. I went to my room so I could sleep. I heard Rachel go outside so I just drifted off. Then I heard someone talking to her. Then I heard someone kissing her. So I came outside and I saw him kissing Rachel."

"And then?"

"Nothing. The fucking coward didn't fight back."

"Do you want to know why?"

"Yeah but I don't see how you could tell me."

"It was probably because Rachel is your sister. Hurting you would hurt her."

"But why would he-" He stopped himself when it finally hit him. "He imprinted on her didn't he?"

"Yes. It happened at the beach when Rachel first got here."

"If he hurts her-"

"He won't and he hasn't. I already gave him the riot act so don't worry."

"Why did you do that?"

I sighed.

"I got close to Billy while you were...gone. And I didn't want Rachel to get hurt so I did what you would have done for me if the situation was reversed."

There was a pause and I thought it was safe to let Jacob up so I did.

"Thanks bro. For helping my dad and looking after my sister." he said pulling me into a hug. I hugged him back.

"Like I said you would do the same for me." We pulled away and headed into the house. "Where are Sam and the others?"

"They left not to long after we got back. What took you and Seth so long?"

"I thought it would be a good idea to let you cool off for a bit."

He nodded and opened the door. We didn't even get all the way in before Rachel started yelling.

"Where's Paul? what did you do? so help me Jacob-"

"I didn't hurt him and I won't just as long as he doesn't do something stupid." He said interrupting her.

"You better not." She warned him and he rolled his eyes.

"Look I'm going to bed." He declared and left the room. Rachel looked at me and Seth.

"Where's my dad?"

"He's either still at the wedding, at Charlies, or he's at Sue's." I said.

"I'll call Sue's." She said and started dialing. It rang four times before someone picked up.

"Hello?" Leah said.

"Hey it's Rachel is my day at your house?"

"Yeah they were here when I got home. He said he wanted to give Jacob some space before he came home."

"Ok did he say when he'll be home."

"No but I think he'll be staying here tonight."

Seth tapped her shoulder.

"Ask if I can stay over." He whispered.

"Is it ok if Seth stays over?" Rachel asked.

"Hang on." she said and it went quiet for a second. "My mom says it's fine but she said to tell him not to cause trouble."

"Hey!" Seth exclaimed. I snickered.

"Ok I'll talk to you later. Good night."

"Night." and she hung up.

"Well I have to head out." I said. I kissed Rachel on the cheek, gave Seth a hug and left the house. I walked all the way home and slipped in through my window. I could hear that my mom and grandma were sleeping. I changed my clothes so I could sleep too. I drifted off not to long after that and I had a vision.

I was in the Cullens house and Carlisle was talking to me.

"They came home two weeks ago."

I walked past him and into the living room. The Cullens were spaced out around the room. Edward looked like he was being burned alive. Alice looked annoyed, Jasper looked like he was ready to blow. Emmett had no expression whatsoever. Esme looked concern and Rosalie was glaring at me. All of them had black eyes. I guess they haven't hunted.

"Hey Jake." A female behind her said. Wait why did she call me Jake? And why did she sound so sick?

I stepped forward but Rosalie blocked my way.

"That's close enough." She said.

"What the hell is your problem?" I said. Wait that didn't sound like me.

"It's fine Rose. Let him through." That same voice said. Rosalie was still glaring at me but moved to the side. When she did I saw Bella on the couch wrapped in a blanket, looking like she could drop dead at any second. I knelt down by her.

"So it's true then, you are sick."

"More or less."

"So what's wrong with you?"

"Help me up Rose?" She asked and Rose appeared behind her and started to help her up slowly.

"You don't need to do that."

"You wanted to know what's happening."

Sho stood up and the blanket that was covering her fell to the ground. When that happened, I got a good glimpse of her stomach. She was pregnant, 9 months pregnant. I looked at her stomach then backed to her face. She smiled weakly at me.

The dream ended and I woke up gasping for air.

"That's not possible." I said softly. Vampires can't have children. Right? That had to be a nightmare or something. Even though it felt like my other dreams, it was from Jacob's point of view. That's never happened before it's always been from mine. I shook my head in an attempt to clear but it still kept playing in my head. I was in for a long night.

~~~~~~~~September 8~~~~~~~

My mind was still reeling from that dream and the ones that followed. The first one I had after that, we were all in our wolf form and Seth was filling us in on what Charlie found out about Bella. Jacob wanted to to go to war but Sam shot him down. Jacob left and he found out about Bella's pregnancy. When he came back, Sam was more than ready to go but Me, Jacob, and Seth didn't have the heart to do it. Didn't matter to Sam though, he Alpha ordered us to do it.

This is where it get's tricky. If Jacob embraces his birthright, Me, Seth, and Leah will join him in protecting the Cullens. If he doesn't, the Cullens lose Carlise, Esme, and Alice. We would lose, Colin, Paul and Quil.

"Honey are you alright?" My mom asked snapping me out of my thoughts.

"No I'm not."

"What's wrong?"

"Something big is going to happen mom. Something that could tear us apart."

"Do you know when?" my grandma asked.

"I narrowed it down to this week. But something tells me it will be very soon."

Before she could respond a howl pierced the air.

"That's Sam. I need to go." I hugged them both and left the house to phase.

_What's up?_ - I asked.

_Meet up with us and we'll fill you in._ - Sam said.

I ran until I entered this heavily wodded area. Sam, Seth, Collin, Brady, and Embry were there. Not to long after I got there Leah and Jake joined in. Jake was thinking about Bella and Killing Edward.

_So self absorbed._ - Leah

_Oh yeah no hypocrisy there, huh Leah?_ - Jake shot at her.

_Can it. Where's Jared and Quil_? - Sam

_Quil's got Claire. He's dropping her off at the Clearwaters'. -_ Jake

_That's good Sue will take her._

_Jared's at Kim's. There's a good chance that he didn't hear you. - _Embry

We all groaned. Sam howled again. Paul entered the area.

_Sup boss?_ - He asked.

_Somethings happened. We need to talk._

Sam, Collin, Brady and Seth's thoughts all flickered to Jake.

_Seth tell them what you told me._ - Sam

_Charlie called around until he got a hold of Billy at my house._ - Seth began.

_Yeah I was there_ - Paul added.

_He's flipping out. I guess Edward and Bella got home like a week ago._ - He continued.

_So what's the story?_ - Jake asked.

_Charlie talked to her he said she sounded bad. She told him she's sick. Carlisle said she picked up some rare disease in south america. She's quarantined and she can't have any visitors, not even Charlie. Carlisle said he's doing everything he can. Charlie's known about this for days but he only said something now._ - Seth finished.

Nobody said anything. Jake was going through these different scenarios about how they would deal with her fake death.

_So what are we waiting for?_ - He finally asked.

No one said anything.

_Oh come on the treaty is broken!_

_We have no proof- maybe she is sick_ - Sam Started.

_Oh please!_

_The circumstancial evidence is high. But we all know that this is what she wanted._ - I said.

_The treaty says nothing about victim preferences!_

_Would you really label her that way?_ - I asked.

_Of course!_

_Jake they are not our enemies._ - Seth.

_Shut up Seth. Just because you have some stupid ass hero worship thing for that bloodsucker-_

_If I recall, he had a stupid ass hero worship thing for you too._ - I said interrupting him.

_It doesn't matter. They are our enemies, on our land. We take them out, end of discussion._

_So what happens when Bella fights alongside them?_ - Seth demanded.

_She's not Bella anymore._

_So you will be the one to take her out then?_ - I asked.

He winced.

_No you won't. So what? You gonna make one of us do it? Then hold a grudge against whoever does it?_ - Seth asked.

_I wouldn't._

_Sure you won't. You're not ready to do this._

Jake started growling at Seth.

_Jacob back off. Seth be quiet._ - Sam

Seth nodded and we felt Quil phase in.

_What did I miss? I heared about Charlie's call._ - He asked.

_We're getting ready to go bring Jared with you. We'll need everyone._ - Jacob

_Come straight here Quil. We haven't decided anything._ - Sam.

Jacob started growling.

_I have to decide what is best for the pack and the tribe Jacob._

_But the treaty says-_

_No Jacob, I say. I don't think the Cullens are a danger to the town or the tribe. We know they'll be leaving soon and then everything will go back to normal._

_You call this normal?_

_If we attack, they will defend themselves._

_Are you afraid?_

_Are you so ready to lose a member of this famly?_

_I'm not afraid to die._

_I know that Jacob but that's the problem. It's the sole reason I question your judgement._

_Do you intend to honor the treaty our fathers made or not?_

_I honor my family. I do what is best for them._

_Pussy._

Sam's muzzle tensed, pulling back over his teeth.

_That's enough Jacob. You are overruled and outranked._

He looked at each of us.

_The pack will not be attacking the Cullens. As I said they are not a danger to us, our people, or the citizens of Forks. Bella Swan made an informed choice, and we will not be attacking our former allies for that. The spirit of the treaty remains._

Jacob turned around and started walking away.

_Where are you going?_ - Sam

_To say goodbye to my father. It's clear that I have no purpose here._

_Nobody wants you to leave Jake._

_Then make me your slave._

_You know I won't do that._

_Then I have nothing more to say._

And with that he left.

_Give him sometime, he'll be ok._ - Sam.

_I hope so._ - Seth.

We felt him phase out.

_I'll go check on him._ - I volunteered.

_Ok. Stay close but not too close._

I nodded and headed to Billy's house. When I got close enough I phased out and got dressed. I couldn't smell Jake as much as I should and the front door was open. I cautiously jogged to the house and went in.

"Oh thank god you're here." Billy said when he saw me.

"What happened? where's Jake?"

"He just left. He's headed towards the Cullens."

"Shit! I'll be right back. Will you be ok?"

"Yes now go." He ordered.

I ran outside into the forest so I could phase.

_Guys!_

_What is it?_ - They asked.

I replayed the brief conversation I had with Billy.

_Oh shit._

_Where's Sam?_

_He just left_. - Quil.

_Someone go to his place and tell him the news._

I saw Embry run to Sam's house and I felt him phase out. About 2 minutes later, both of them phased back in.

_I need everyone to phase back in. **Now.**_ - Sam ordered

_What do we do after that?_ - Quil

_The only thing we can do. Wait._

Everyone phased in and we waited. About two hours later, Jacob phased back in.

_Get home. **Now.**_ -Sam

He started running and we saw everything. The pregnacy, the state of the Cullens. We all ran closer to him. When we got into a clearing the others started pacing.

_How is this possible?_

_It's not right._

_It's not safe._

_It's unatural._

_This cannot be allowed._

Were some of the thoughts swirling around.

_The treaty does not cover this._ - Paul

_This will put everyone in danger._ - Jared

Jacob started thinking about some of the Cullens being scared of the baby.

_They fear it too._

_But they choose to do nothing about it._

_They're protecting Bella._

_That cannot influence us._

_If they won't kill it, we will._

_Protect the town. Protect the tribe._

_We have to do something before it's too late._

Jacob thought about Edward said about the babies fast growth.

_There will be a fight. A nasty one._ - Embry

_We're ready._ - Paul

_We'll have the element of surprise._ - Sam

_We have to divide them. Only then can we have a chance of winning._ - Jared

That was my limit. I shook my head and so did Jacob.

_Wait._ - We both thought.

_There's little time._ - Sam

_But what are you thinking? You wouldn't attack them this afternoon for violating the treaty. But you'll do it now when it's still intact?_ - Jacob asked.

_This was not something our fathers anticipated when they made the treaty. This is a danger to everyone in the area. We don't know what they've bred, but we know that it's fast growing. It will be too young to follow any treaty. It could be just like the newborns we fought except one that's protected by the Cullens._

_But we don't know- _I tried to argue but Sam interrupted me.

_Your right Thomas, we don't know. But we cannot take a chance on something like this. We allow the Cullen's to exist because they won't go back on their word. This...thing cannot be trusted._

_It's just a baby._ - Jacob

_Not for long_. - Leah

_We can't let this slide. This is a big problem._ - Quil

_The only one in danger here is Bella_. - Jacob

_By her own choice but now it affects all of us._ - Sam

_I don't think so._ - Jacob

Me and Seth nodded in agreement.

_We won't allow a blood drinker on our lands._

_Then tell them to leave._ - Seth

_And let someone else deal with this problem? When a vampire comes on our land, we destroy them regardless of where or what they hunt. We protect everyone we can._

_Just this afternoon you didn't want to put the pack in danger_. - I said.

_That's because I didn't know our families were in danger._

_How are you supposed to do this without killing Bella?_ - Jacob asked.

No one said anything. Jacob howled.

_She's human, our protection applies to her!_

_She's dying anyway. We'll just shorten the process._ - Leah.

Jacob leapt towards her but Sam pulled him back by his hind leg.

_Stop. - _He ordered Jacob.

_Do not be cruel to him Leah. What we do tonight will be going against everything we were tought. We will mourn for Bella's sacrifice._

_Tonight?_ - Me and Seth asked at the same time.

_Yes._

_I think you should consult with the elders. You seriously can't ask_ - Seth started but Sam shut him down.

_You will do as you are told Seth._ - He ordered and Seth knees Buckled. I went to stand in front of him.

_What are you doing Sam? -_ I asked.

_What I was born to do._

_No you're not. You said it yourself this goes against everything we stand for. How can you throw that away?_

_Because it is the right thing to do._

I jumped back in surprise.

_I don't believe you. I'm sorry Sam but I can't do this._

_You-_

_No I know you will make me your slave. What I meant is I cannot do this as your Beta._

_What?_ - He asked sounding surprised.

_I cannot willingly be second to someone who will go back on their values because they're afraid. That doesn't make you a great leader, that makes you a coward._

He flinched and I felt the hurt rolling off of him. I couldn't tell if it was because of what I said, or if it was because I was the one who said it.

_Jacob, Thomas, you are our strongest fighters so you will take Emmett and Jasper._

My knees buckled under the weight of the command.

_Paul, Jared, and I will take Edward and Rosalie._

He paused.

_Brady, Collin, Seth, and Leah will take care of Carlilse, Alice, and Esme. Anyone with a clear shot at the creature will take it. That is our top priority._

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Jacob fighting hard. Seth wasn't but he felt terrible about this. I could see Sam planning this thing out and it made me sick to think about hurting people I trusted. People who trusted me.

_There's no point in fighting it_. - Embry

_Yeah bro come on._ - Quil

Jacob was fighting it hard but he finally realized that he had the power to do it.

_**No.**_ - He said. His alpha voice strong. Sam's felt like two people were talking to you, but with Jacob it felt like five. Me and Seth instantly relaxed our respect and allegiance aimed towards Jacob. Sam turned around and yelped in surprise.

_What have you done?_

_I won't follow you Sam. Not when you're in the wrong._

_You would choose them over us?_

_The Cullens are innocent. It just took me alot longer to realize this._

_This isn't about them this is about Bella. You are always destroying your life for her and she is wrong for you!_

_Maybe you're right but you will destroy the pack if you do this. Even if all of them make it out, they'll have murder on their hands._

_We need to protect our families!_

_You've made your decision, but I'm making mine right now._

_You **cannot** turn your back on the tribe._ - Sam ordered. Too bad it didn't work.

_Stop trying Sam your command is weightless to me. I am a son of Ephraim Black and I was not born to follow the son of Levi Uley._

_So is this it then? Even if you defeat me, they will never follow you._

_I'm not going to fight you Sam._

_Then what? I won't stand aside so you can protect their spawn at our expense._

_I'm not telling you to step aside._

_If you order them them-_

_I would never take someone's will away. I would never be that cruel._

Sam flinched back.

_There cannot be two Alpha's in the pack. So will you rip this family apart or will you stand by us?_

_There is an Alpha for this pack I won't contest that. I'm just going on my own._

_So you belong to a coven now?_

_I don't know Sam but know this, I will stand between you and the Cullen. I will not let you kill innocent people. The pack is better than that. Lead them into the right direction._

With that he ran away and the others started howling. Me and Seth exchanged a glanced and slowly headed in Jake's direction. When we were out of view from the others, we ran like our lives depended on it. We felt no pursuit behind us but we still pushed ourselves to move faster. I just hope that we were right on this one.


	13. Broken

SAM POV

I couldn't believe it. I lost three brothers tonight. I was so wrapped in doing this all I ended up doing was push them away.

_It's not your fault that they're traitors._ - Paul

_They're not traitors._ - Leah

_They just abandoned their family to go hang out with those fucking parasite's and their mutant spawn. Yep sounds like traitors to me._

_**Enough. **_

I really need to ease up on that. That's what got us into this mess in the first place.

_Look, I want a few of you to patrol around just in case they come back. We can't hear them so they either phased out or...I don't know. But do not engage them without me there._

_Can I go home? So I can tell my mom what happened._ - Leah

_Sure. Could you tell her that I need to speak with them._ - I told her. She nodded once and left.

LEAH POV

I ran as fast as I could so I could get away from them. I phased out when I was close to my house. I took my time getting dressed because I needed to figure out how I should say this. I walked slowly towards the house and went inside when I got to the door. I was greeted by my mother.

"Leah? Oh my god what happened we heard all the howling. Wait where's Seth?" She said and Billy came wheeling in to the room from the kitchen.

"What's going on? What happened with Jake?"

I held my hand up to silence them.

"Jacob is...fine but he's not here." I told him.

"What do you mean he's not here?"

I told him the whole story. Jacob finding out about Swan's prgnancy, about Sam Alpha ordering everyone around, and even Jake embracing his birthright.

"So he just left?" He asked.

"Yes. T.J. and Seth followed him."

"What?" My mom asked.

"They were both opposed to this idea so they followed him when we were preoccupied. T.J. even stepped down as Sam's Beta."

"He did?" Billy asked. I nodded.

"He didn't think it was right to be Sam's second if he went through with this plan."

"Why didn't Sam come to us?"

"Seth tried to tell him that but Sam shot him down. But he wants to speak with all of you."

"We'll call him and arrange the details. Go get some rest." My mom said. I nodded and went upstairs.

I flew my door open and jumped on my bed. I started to think about my brother and how I thought him leaving to protect the leech's was stupid. But then again, could I honestly fight him if it came to that? _No_ I told myself. But what could I do? I'm stuck here. Or am I? Blood wise, me and Seth have a great chance of being Alpha but who would follow me? No. No one would have to follow me I would just go on my own. And if that didn't work...No it has to work I refuse to join Jacob. But what about Seth? I couldn't leave him but I would have no problems leaving Sam.

Frustrated, I got off my bed and started pacing. I'll try to break away. If I can't then I'll join Jacob. For Seth and for me. I walked over to my desk and grabbed a piece of paper, a pencil, and I started writing.

_Mom,_

_I have to get away from here. I can't be apart of Sam's pack and I need to make sure Seth is alright. I need to do this. Please don't worry too much._

_Love,_

_Leah._

I put the note on my bed, closed my door, and headed towards my window. I opened it and started climbing down the tree that was close to the house. When I got to the ground I broke into a sprint so I could try to break away.

T.J. POV

Me and Seth ran for a good 5 minutes before we heard Jacob in our heads.

_What the hell are you two doing? Go home!_

_We're following you. Now slow down I'm not as fast you two._ - Seth

We ran faster while Jacob slowed down. When he came into view Seth was on his left, I was on his right.

_I'm not joking. This is not the place for the both of you. Get out of here._

_We got your back Jake we won't stand behind Sam-_ Seth started but Jake interrupted him.

_Oh yes you will stand behind him. Get home and do what he tells you to do._

_No._ - Me and Seth thought at the same time.

_Go!_

_Is that an order?_ - Seth

Seth's question brought him up short and he skidded to a halt.

_I'm not ordering anyone to do anything. I'm just telling you two what you already know._

_I'll tell you what I know- It's awful quiet. Haven't you noticed?_

Apart from some howling in the west, we didn't hear anyone else in our heads.

_We're not linked anymore._ - I said.

_Must be because we're in seperate packs._ - Seth.

_There's_ the_ pack and then there is me. That's all. So you two can can go home now._

_If there aren't two packs, then why can we hear each other and not the rest?_ - I asked.

He didn't say anything.

_I think that when you turned your back on Sam, that was a pretty significant move. A change. And when we followed you, I think that was significant too._ - Seth added.

_True but what can be changed, can change right back._ - Jake countered.

_We don't have time to argue about this._ - I said.

_Yeah we have to move before Sam tries something._ - Seth added.

Jake sighed and started moving faster. He was thinking about the spots where me and Seth were running in. The spots reserved for the Beta and Gamma.

_We'll run somewhere else._ - I offered.

_Yeah I didn't leave so I could get a promotion._ - Seth said.

_Run where ever you want. Makes no difference to me._ - He said.

There was still no sound of pursuit behind us. We still ran fast though, and Jake was worried still. He was thinking about all of us not being linked. He didn't like not knowing if they were going to attack or not.

_We'll run patrols_. - Seth.

_And what do we do if the pack challenges us? Attack our brothers? Your sister?_ - Jake asked.

_No. We sound the alarm and fall back._

_That's a good answer but then what. I don't think-_

_I know. I don't think I could fight them either but they won't like that idea anymore than we do. Plus they're down to 8 members now._ - I said.

He sighed again and went quiet. We were getting close to the Cullen's place.

_Do you think Edward can hear us?_ - Jake asked.

_I'm not sure. He never did say what his range was._ - I answered.

_Maybe we should say something like, We come in peace._ - Seth.

_Seth, we're wolves, not space invaders._ - I said.

_Give it a try Seth._ - Jacob.

_Edward? Edward are you there? Ok I feel kinda stupid._

_He should be able to hear us, we're less than a mile out._ - I said.

_Hey Edward if you can here me, circle the wagons bloodsucker you've got a problem._ - Jacob

_We have a problem._ - Me and Seth.

When the house came into view, Edward, Jasper, and Emmett were on the front porch.

"Thomas? Seth? Jacob? What's going on?"

Jacob started replaying what happened. Me and Seth helped fill in the blanks. He hissed and leapt towards us.

"They want to kill Bella?" He said flatly.

Unfortunately Emmett and Jasper didn't hear the first part of our conversation so they thought he was making a statement. They were next to him before any of us could blink, their teeth bared at us.

_Hey, now._ - Seth

_Wait, hold up._ - I said.

"Jazz, Em, not them! It's the others that are coming." Edward said.

They backed up a bit.

"What's their problem?" Emmett demanded.

"The same one as mine." Edward hissed. "They have their own plan to handle it though. Get the others. Call Carlisle! He and Esme have to get back here now."

_You're seperated?_ - Jacob

"They're not far."

Emmett backed up and opened his phone to call Carlisle.

_I'm going to take a look. Run the western perimeter._ - Seth

"Will you be in danger Seth?" Edward asked.

We all exchanged a glance.

_Don't think so._ - We all thought.

_But I should go with him. Just in case._ - Jacob added.

_They'll be less likely to challange me. I'm just a kid to them._ - Seth countered.

_You're just a kid to us kid._ - Jacob.

_Someone should take the east. I'll go if you want to stay and coordinate with the Cullens._ - I offered.

_I'll make a loop._ - Seth said and disapeared before I could protest.

"Thank you all for doing this. I owe you so much."

Me and Jake nodded our heads.

_How is she doing? Is she getting any better?_ - Jake asked.

"Worse." Edward replied.

We didn't get to dwell on it because Alice appeared in front of us.

"Would one of you mind switching forms? I want to know what's going on." She said.

Me and Jake shook our heads.

"They need to stay linked to Seth." Edward said.

"Well would you tell me what's going on?" She pressed.

"The pack thinks Bella's become a problem. They foresee potential danger from the... from what she's carrying. They feel it's their duty to remove that danger. Jacob, Seth, and Thomas disbanded from them to warn us. The rest are planning to attack tonight."

She hissed and turned to us.

"Thank you."

We nodded again.

_All's quiet on the western front. I'm headed east._ - Seth said.

"Carlisle and Esme are headed back. They'll be here in about twenty minutes." Emmett said after snapping his phone.

"We should take up a defensive position." Jasper said.

"Let's get inside." Edward said.

_We'll join Seth._ - I said.

_If you can't hear us listen for my howl._ - Jacob added.

"I will." He said.

They all went back inside and we headed west.

_I'm still not getting anything._ - Seth

_We'll take this half of the circle. Move fast so they don't have a chance to get by us._ - Jake said.

Somehow Seth found this sudden burst of speed. We ran in silence for about 15 minutes.

_Something's coming in fast!_ - Seth

_We're on our way._ - Me and Jake.

_Hold on. It doesn't sound like the pack it sounds different._

_Inhale for me Seth._ - I told him. He did and I could tell who it was.

_It's Carlisle and Esme._

_I'll phase so I can explain to them_. - He said and phased out.

He was gone for about two minutes.

_You were right Teej it was them. They were surprised to see me. They give us their thanks._

_They're good people._ - I said.

_Yeah that's one of the reasons we're right on this._ - Seth added.

_I hope so._ - Jacob

_Why so glum there bro? Sam won't launch an attack tonight. It would be suicide at this point._ - I asked.

_It doesn't matter._

_Oh this isn't just about Sam is it?_ - Seth asked.

Jake didn't answer and Seth came into view.

_You think she'll die anyway_. - Seth continued.

_That's because she will._

_Poor Edward he must be going crazy._

_Literally._

Jake's memories were triggered when Edward's name came up. Me and Seth watched in astonishment. When the deal about Jacob killing Edward came up, Seth started howling.

_Oh you did not! That just plain ol' sucks rocks, Jacob. And you know it, too! I can't believe you said you'd kill him. You have to tell him no._

_Shut up, you idiot. They're going to think the pack is coming!_ - I yelled.

_Oh sorry._ - He said stopping mid howl.

Jacob broke away from us to head to the house.

_Both of you take the circle for now._

We nodded.

_Sorry. Seth is young. He forgets things. No one's attacking. False alarm._ - He thought as he got closer to the house.

_Hey!_ - Seth protested.

_Quiet._ - Me and Jake.

When he got close Edward was on the balcony.

_There's nothing out there. You got that?_ - He asked.

Edward noded once.

Me and Seth kept running but Jake got closer so he could hear what was going on.

"It was a false alarm. Seth was upset about something else, and he forgot we were listening for a signal. He's very young." Edward explained.

"Nice to know we have toddlers guarding us." Emmett said.

"They've done us a great service tonight, Emmett. At a high cost." Carlisle said.

"I know but wish I was out there. I hate just sitting around."

"Seth and Thomas don't think Sam will attack tonight. Not with us forewarned and them lacking three members." Edward said.

"What does Jacob think?" Carlisle asked.

"He's not as optimistic."

It went quiet and through Jacob, we could hear Bella's breathing and her heartbeat. Her breathing was harsh and labored. Her heartbeat was fast, too fast.

"Don't touch her. You will wake her up." Rosalie whispered.

"Rosalie." Carlisle murmured.

"No we did it your way earlier but that is all we're allowing." She said.

_Are they speaking in plurals now?_ - I asked.

_Looks like it._ - Jacob.

He got up on two feet so he could peak into the house. The living room didn't look like a living room, it looked like a hospital room. We could see and hear Bella's IV drip which had this thick white liquid.

Bella choked a little and Edward and Rosalie moved to hover over her. Her body jerked and she started to whimper. We saw Rosalie smooth her hand across Bella's forehead. Edward's body stiffened-his back was to Jake, but his expression must have been something to see, because Emmett wrenched himself between them before there was time to blink. He held his hands up to Edward.

"Not now Edward. We've got other things to worry about." He said and Edward turned away from him. He looked right at Jacob for a moment. He had that burning man look as Jacob calls it. The pain in his eyes was indescribable. Jake dropped down on all fours and ran to join up with us.

_Worse. She's getting worse._ - He thought.

_Poor Bella_. - Seth said and I nodded in agreement.

We didn't say anything else.

~~~~~~~THE NEXT MORNING~~~~~~~

The sun had just come over the mountains, signaling a new day. Seth passed out around two and Jake wanted me to get some rest but I said no. Seth started waking up.

_Hey guys._ - He said yawning.

_You can rest now bro._ - Jake told me. I shook my head.

_I'm not that tired. You go ahead. _

_You sure?_

_Yeah two of us should be up to run. I'll crash when you come back._

Before he could respond Seth started howling. Me and Jake ran towards him. We could hear the thudding of giant paws. When we got close to his frozen form another voice entered our heads.

_Morning boys._ - Leah

A shocked whine escaped Seth's mouth. Jake and Seth started snarling when they delved deeper into the new mind that joined us.

_Oh man go away Leah_! - Seth said groaning.

He came into view and he threw his head back ready to howl.

_Cut the noise bro!_ - Jake

_Oh right sorry._

Leah's small grey form trotted into our view.

_Stop whining. God you are such a baby._

Jacob growled at her and she took a step back.

_What the hell are you doing here?_ - He asked.

_Isn't it obvious? I'm joining your little renegade pack. You know so I can play gaurd dog too._ - She said with an eye roll.

_No you're not. Go home before I rip out your hamstrings._

_Like you could catch me. Wanna race oh fearless leader?_ - She said grinning and coiling her body ready to spring.

Jacob took in a deep breath and I swear he was trying to get his lungs to explode. Thankfully he let out a big gust of air.

_Seth go tell that Cullens it's just your stupid sister._ - He said.

_I'm on it._

Leah whined at his retreating figure.

_Your going to let him go to the parasites alone?_ - She asked and I rolled my eyes.

_I'm pretty sure he would rather face a coven of vampires than spend another minute with you._

_Shut up, Jacob. Oops, I'm sorry-I meant, shut up, most high Alpha._

_Why the hell are you here?_ - He asked rather shortly.

_I'm not gonna let my little brother get himself killed._ - She snapped.

Me and Jake rolled our eyes.

_Seth doesn't want or need your protection. No one wants you here._

I glared at him. That was uncalled for.

_Ouch that's gonna leave a mark._

She paused to roll her eyes.

_Tell me who does want me and I'm out of here._

_So this isn't about Seth at all?_

_Of course it is. I'm just saying being unwanted isn't new to me._

_Does Sam know your here?_ - I asked.

_No. He doesn't even know I left. My allegiance is no longer to him._ - She said honestly.

Jacob didn't buy it.

_You're loyal to me now? Uh huh sure._ - He said sarcastically.

_I don't like this anymore than you do, but my choices are limited._

She pretended to be upset with this but she felt...I don't she was on some weird high that I can't explain. Jake tried to search her mind and we could feel the resentment coming off of her. He didn't get to far because we could hear Seth thinking his explanation to Edward. Leah started whining again. Edward's face wasn't the same as last night but I would hardly call it an improvement.

_Wow he looks bad._ - Seth muttered while he turned around to join us again. Leah started to relax.

_So what's been going on? Catch me up to speed._ - Leah asked.

_There's no point in telling you because you're not staying._ - Jacob

_Actually I am. I have to belong to someone and I chose you. Don't think I didn't try to go off on my own but it didn't work, so here I am._

_But I don't like you. You don't even like me._

_Gee Captain obvious did you just figure that out? I don't have to like you I just need to follow you so I can stay with Seth._

_You hate vampires though. Don't you think that is a conflict of intrest?_

_You hate vampires too._

_But I can commit to this alliance, you can't._

_Then I'll stay away and run patrol._

_You know_ - I started but was interrupted by Jake.

_And I'm supposed to just trust you with that?_

She stretched her neck,and leaned on her toes in an attempt to be as big as Jacob.

_I won't let down my pack._ - She said firmly.

Before Jacob could protest, I spoke.

_This is a good thing if you think about it._

All three of them turned to look at me.

_What?_ - Jacob asked.

_We can push the perimeter out farther, and two of us can be up at the same time._

_Yeah Jake Leah's not so bad and this puts Sam down to 7._ - Seth added.

He thought about it for a minute. He really didn't like the idea of having her here, but what me and Seth said was starting to weigh him down. He heaved a sigh.

_Fine. But how bout you make yourself useful, and tell us what you know._

_Well I'm sure all of you heard the howling. Took us a few moments to realize that we couldn't hear you. Sam was upset about evrything, and he decided to talk with the elders today._

_You decided to skip the meeting?_

_Yeah but he's not going to do anything anytime soon. Although, I wouldn't go out into the forest alone if I were a leech. I'm pretty sure it's open season on vamps, vegetarian or not._

_What else happened?_ - I asked.

_Sam wanted some of us to patrol. I asked to go home so I could exlpian things to my mom._

_Jeeze you told mom? What the hell Lee!_ - Seth growled.

_Quiet Seth. Keep going Leah._ - Jacob

_I explained everything to your dad and my mom once I was human._

_How did they take it?_

_They were both upset._

_Because Sam didn't consult with them, or because we left?_ - I asked.

_Pretty sure it was both. After I explained everything I went up to my room to think about things. Took me all night, I think everyone thought I passed out. I left my mom a note although I'm sure we'll hear something when Sam finds out._

She cocked an ear to the west.

_I guess we will._ - Jacob

_That's everything, so what do we do now?_ - She asked.

_We just wait and see that's all we can really do right now. You should probably take a nap Leah, you too Thomas._

_You've had as much sleep as I have_. - Leah countered.

_And two of us should be patroling at the same time._ - I added.

_Fine how bout you and Seth run patrol and me and T.J. check in with the Cullens._

_Maybe I could nap after around or two. Hey Seth wanna see how many times I can lap you?_ - She asked.

_No!_ - He groaned and started running.

She chuckled and ran after him. Me and Jake didn't say anything, we just ran towards the Cullens place.

BILLY POV

Me, Old Quil, and Sue were waiting right outside of my house for Sam and the pack to show up. They came through the trees about a few minutes later. Sam was in the front, Paul and Jared at his sides. The rest of the boys right behind him.

They stopped about 5 feet away from us.

"I take it you know by now?" Sam asked.

We nodded. He looked around.

"Where's Leah?" he asked.

"Gone." Sue said in a cold tone.

"Gone?" He asked sounding shocked.

"Did I stutter Sam?" She asked sharply.

"No Sue. Where did she go?"

"With Jacob."

"Wow four traitors now." Paul muttered.

I glared at him.

"Look here Paul, I don't care what he's done he's still my son and your imprints brother." Paul hung his head and I looked at Sam. "And your rightful Alpha so show some respect."

"Billy-" Sam started but I swiped my hand furiously to cut him off.

"No Sam don't you dare apologize. All of this could have been avoided if you came to us sooner. Now, your four members down. Sue's children are gone along with my son and nephew. We could have talked to the Cullens, maybe even come to an understanding but now we're in this mess. The next words that come out of your mouth better be a plan to fix this otherwise you can keep it shut." I said.

None of the boys said anything.

"While you are right that this...whatever it is was not anticipated by Ephraim and his pack when they made the treaty." Old Quil started. "That did not give you the right to act so rashly. I expected more out of you Sam. We all did."

Sam looked down at the ground.

"We have talked about it before you arrived. None of you will go against what we were tought. No one will be killing Bella Swan anytime soon. If the...child poses a threat then you can attack. If it doesn't we will let them go." I said.

"You can't be serious!" Paul growled.

"Do I look like I'm joking boy?" I said glaring at him. "Enough damage has been done you will not cause anymore!"

"Billy would it be ok to send a few members into their territory? So we can at least try to get Seth and Leah back." Sam asked.

"What do you think?" I asked Quil and Sue.

"It seems fine but no fights." Sue said and Quil nodded in agreement.

"We'll allow it." I said.

Sam nodded and motioned for the others to follow him.

JARED POV

"Ok I want Collin, Quil, Jared and Paul to go." Sam said.

"Why can't I go?" Embry asked.

"Four is enough Em."

Embry was going to say something else but I cut him off.

"Seriously bro it will be fine."

He looked at me then hung his head. Sam pulled me to the side.

"Do whatever you need to get them back Jare. I mean it, get down on your knees and beg if you have too. Tell Lee lee that I miss her. Do anything."

"I will bro." I said nodding.

"Be careful."

"We will."

Me, Colin, Quil, and Paul headed off to the forest to phase. God I hope this works.

T.J. POV

The Cullens house came into view after a few minutes of running. When we about a few yards away, we both slipped on our shorts and headed to the front door. The front door open before we got to the top step. Carlisle was on the other side.

"Good morning." He said.

"Morning." We and Jake said at the same time.

"How is she doing?" Jacob asked.

"She's in the same condition unfortunately."

Jacob nodded gravely and I just put my head down.

"I didn't get a chance to thank all of you last night. I really appreciate your compassion. Me and my family owe you so much." Carlisle said.

"Don't mention it doc." Jake muttered.

"Honestly Carlisle, I'm very fond of all of you. It was no big deal." I said with a small smile.

We didn't say anything else. I could hear Jasper, Alice and, Emmett speaking quietly. I could hear Bella's uneven heartbeat and two people breathing near her. Probably Edward and Rosalie.

"You consider her family?" Jacob asked after a few minutes.

"Yes. I consider her a beloved daughter." Carlisle answered.

"But you're going to let her die."

I shot Jacob a glare.

"That's hardly fair Jake. I believe Carlisle has to follow an oath and the main point in that oath is first do no harm." I said gritting my teeth.

Jacob glared right back at me.

"But he's doing that right now by letting that thing stay inside of her." He spat.

"But he can't take her will away. You and I both know what that feels like." I said icily. Jacob's mouth snapped shut.

"Is there a chance she can make this? She told me about Esme." Jake said trying to change the subject.

"There's an even chance but there are some conditions that not even venom can overcome. Her heart is working too hard and if it gives out before I can do anything..." He said trailing off sadly.

"What is that thing doing to her? She's so much worse than before. I saw all the tubes and needles through the window." Jake said.

"Her body is not getting the proper nutrition. The fetus isn't compatiable with her body and it's too strong for her to carry but she's toughing it out. They're both starving to death and all I can do is watch. If I could figure out what it wants, I could help both of them."

_Maybe the baby needs blood_ I thought. _Nah they would have thought of that by now. Maybe Bella's stomach couldn't handle it._

"I wish I could get a better idea of what it is. The fetus is well protected that I cant even get an ultrasonic image. I doubt that I'll be able to pierce the amniotic sac with a needle, but Rosalie won't allow me to try."

"What good would a needle do?" Jake asked.

"Any information on the fetus will help me estimate what it will be capable of. The things I could learn from the amniotic fluid. The chromosal count-"

"You're losing me there doc. Could you dumb it down?" Jake asked interrupting Carlisle. Carlise let out an exhausted laugh.

"How much biology have you taken? Did you learn about chromosomal pairs?"

"I think so. We have 23 pairs right?"

"Humans do."

"How many do you have?" I asked.

"25."

"What does that mean?"

"I thought our species weren't compatible but this new life suggests otherwise. If I had known beforehand I would have warned them."

I frowned. All this could have been avoided if I told them, but I didn't believe it myself so I kept quiet.

"Wonder what my chromosomes are like?" Jake muttered.

"You have 24 pairs Jacob." Carlise said causing Jacob to stare at him with raised eyebrows.

"Sam and Thomas let me take a blood sample from when you were hurt. It was one of my findings." Carlise said slightly embarrassed. Jacob just shrugged.

"I'm sorry I should have asked you but you were...occupied."

"It's fine doc you didn't mean any harm."

"No, I promise you that I did not mean you any harm. It's just that I find your species fascinating. I suppose that the elements of vampiric nature have come to seem commonplace to me over the centuries. Your family's divergence from humanity is much more interesting. I would say it's magical even."

"He has a point Jake, even your dad said so."

"Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo." Jake mumbled.

Carlisle let out another exhausted laugh. We could hear Edward's voice inside so we stopped talking to listen.

"I'll be back Bella, I want to speak with Carlisle for a moment. Actually Rosalie, would you mind accompanying me?" He said. His voice wasn't as flat as before but it wasn't normal.

"What is it Edward?" Bella asked hoarsely.

"Nothing you need to worry about love. It will just take a second. Please Rose?"

"Esme? Could you look after Bella for me?" She asked.

"Of course." Esme said.

We all watched the door expectantly. Edward came through first, Rosalie right on his heels. Edward's face wasn't as bad as last night but he didn't look normal. Rosalie was eyeing us suspiciously.

"Carlisle." Edward murmured.

"What is it Edward?" Carlisle asked.

"I think we've been going about this the wrong way. I was listening to the three of you and Jacob and Thomas may have found the key to what the...fetus wants."

_I did? Wait do you mean the blood?_ I thought.

"Yes Thomas that's what I meant. And we didn't actually address that angle. We've been trying to give Bella what she needs but she's accepting it as anyone of us would. If we can satisfy the needs of the fetus, I think we'll be able to help her." He said.

"I'm not following you Edward." Carlisle said.

"Think about it, if the creature is more vampire than human, can't you guess what it craves? What it needs? These two did." He said motioning to me and Jacob.

"Oh you think it's thirsty." Carlisle said sounding surprised. At the same time Rosalie hissed. It wasn't an angry hiss but an excited one.

"Of course. Don't we have some O negative laid aside for Bella? It would be a good idea to use it now." She said glancing in my direction without even acknowledging Jacob.

"I think the best way to administer-" Carlisle started but Rosalie cut him off.

"There's no time to be creative. We'll have to do it the old fashioned way." She said.

"Wait a minute. Are you talking about making her drink that?" Jacob asked.

"How else are they gonna do it?" I said.

"Yeah dog how else? Besides this was your idea." Rosalie said scowling.

"That is-" Jacob started but couldn't finish.

"Monstrous? Repulsive?" Edward asked.

"Pretty much."

"But what if it helps?" I said.

"What you gonna do, help them shove a tube down her throat?" He said glaring at me.

"I plan on asking her first. I just wanted to run it by Carlisle." Edward said.

"If you tell her that it could help the baby, I'm sure she'll do it." Rosalie said with a nod.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Edward nod once. I couldn't tell if he was answering Jacob's thoughts or Carlise's.

"Well let's not stand around here talking about it. Let's give it a whirl." Rosalie said sounding impatient. Carlisle took a breath before he spoke.

"Let's ask Bella."

Rosalie was smiling smugly and we all made our way into the house. I wasn't sure if it was alright but they didn't stop me and Jake so we followed. When we got in to the living room, Edward and Rosalie flitted to her side, Carlise stood in front of her. Me and Jake were leaning against the wall.

"What's going on?" She demanded while eying us with exhausted suspicion. Her voice reminded me of someone being trapped in the desert with no food or water.

"The boys had an idea that could help you. It won't be the most pleasant thing but-"

"It will help the baby. It might be the best way to feed him." Rosalie said interrupting Carlisle.

Bella gave a weak chuckle.

"Unpleasant? I'm sure it would be a step up from this." She said eyeballing all the tubes. Rosalie laughed with her. Edward walked over to her and grabbed one of her hands.

"Love what were suggesting is monstrous, repulsive even." He told her.

"How bad?" She asked in a shaky voice.

"We think the fetus might have an appetite closer to ours than yours. We think it may be thirsty."

She blinked.

"Oh. Oh!" She said.

"Your condition is deteriorating rapidly. Both of you. We don't have time to think of other ways to get it into your system. The fastest way would be-"

"For me to drink it." She said with a small nod. "I can do that. Good practice for the future. So whose gonna catch me a grizzly bear?"

The three of them exchanged a look.

"What?" She asked.

"We can't afford to cut corners here Bella." Carlisle said.

"If it's craving blood, it's not craving animal blood." Edward said.

"It won't make a difference to you Bella. Try not to think about it." Rosalie encouraged. Bella's eyes widened.

"Who?" She whispered while her gaze flickered from me to Jake.

"We're not donors Bells." Jake said.

"Our blood doesn't apply." I added.

"We have blood for you on hand, just in case. I have a good thing about this Bella, I'm sure the baby will be fine after this."

Bella ran her free hand across her stomach.

"Well I'm starving and I bet he is too. Let's do it. My first vampire act." She said.

Carlisle and Rosalie were out of the room and upstairs in a flash. They were debating on whether or not it should be warmed up for her. Edward never left her side but his face went dead again. Whatever was going through his mind earlier went out the window. Rosalie flashed back down stairs and into the kitchen and I heard a cupboard door creak.

"Not clear Rosalie." Edward murmured and rolled his eyes.

Bella looked curious hell we all did but Edward just shook his head.

"This was your idea?" She asked us. I shrugged.

"It was just a thought." I said.

"Mine was a snide comment." Jake said getting closer. I rolled my eyes.

She smiled a little.

"I didn't expect to see you again." She told him.

"Yeah me either." he said.

"Edward told me what you had to do. I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It would only be a matter of time before I snapped over something Sam did." He said. I knew it was a lie but he was trying to make her feel better so I kept quiet.

"And Seth and T.J." She whispered.

"We're more than happy to help." I said.

"I just hate causing you trouble."

Jake barked out a laugh.

"I guess it's nothing new." She sighed.

"No not really." Jake said.

"You don't have to stay and watch."

"I don't have anywhere else to go. The wolf thing is a lot less appealing now since Leah showed up."

"Leah?" She gasped.

"You didn't tell her?" He asked Edward who just shrugged. He didn't seem to care but Bella looked like she just got the worst news in the world.

"Why?"

"To keep an eye on Seth."

"But she hates us." She whispered.

"She's not going to bug anyone. She's in my pack so she'll follow my lead." He said making a face. I rolled my eyes. _Way to be convincing there cousin._ I thought.

Bella didn't look convinced.

"You're scared of Leah but you and the psycho blonde are best buds now?" He said.

"Don't Rose understands." She said frowning at him. Jake grunted.

"Oh I'm sure she does. She understands that you're going to die and she doesn't care as long as she gets the mutant spawn." He snapped. Where the hell did that come from?

"Stop being a jerk Jacob." She said while glaring weakly at him.

"You say that like it's possible." He retorted with a smile. She tried not to smile back but she did anyway.

Carlisle and Rosalie came back into the room. He was holding a styrofoam cup complete with a lid and bendy straw. Oh not clear, now I get it. He didn't want her to think about more than she should. You couldn't see anything but if you were a wolf or a vampire, you could smell it. Carlisle half extended it to her and she looked a little scared.

"We can try something else." He suggested.

"No. I'll try this first. We don't have much time to try anything else." She whispered.

She took the cup from but her had was so shaky that you could hear the liquid sloshing. She tried to lift herself up but she was too frail. _I should have said something._ I thought. Shit I forgot Edward was in the room. I risked a glance at him but he didn't look at me. Rosalie put her arm under Bella's shoulder's supporting her head like you would a newborn.

"Thanks." She whispered. Her eyes flickering around looking at us. I guess she felt self concious and she probably would have blushed if she could.

"Don't mind them." Rosalie told her.

Bella lifted the cup to her face and sniffed the straw. She flinched and made a face.

"Sweetheart we can find an easier way." Edward said holding his hand out.

"Just plug your nose." Rosalie suggested while glaring at Edward's hand.

"No that's not it. It smells...good." She said sucking in a sharp breath.

"That's a good thing. It means we're on the right track. Give it a try." Rosalie said eagerly.

Bella put the straw between, squeezed her eyes shut, and wrinkled her nose. I could hear the blood sloshing around in the cup again as her hand started shaking. She sipped it for a second, and then moaned quietly with her eyes still closed.

Edward and Jacob stepped closer. Edward put his hand on her face and Jake clenched his fists behind his back.

"Bella..."

"No I'm fine." She whispered opening her eyes to look at him. She had an apologetic expression for some reason. "It taste good too."

"That's a good sign." Rosalie said beaming.

Bella took another sip.

"Hows your stomach? Do you feel nauseated?" Carlisle asked. She shook her head.

"I don't feel sick. That's a first huh?" She said.

"Excellent." Rosalie said beaming.

"It's a little early to be excited Rose." Carlisle murmured.

Bella took in another mouthful and flashed a look at Edward.

"Does this screw with my total? Or do we start counting after I become a vampire." She asked. Vampire's keep track?

"No one is counting Bella. In any case no one died for this. Your record is clean." He said with a lifeless smile.

"I'll explain later." He said after a brief pause.

"What?" Bella whispered.

"Just talking to myself."

I saw his lips twitching and Bella took a few more chugs. I saw Edward roll his eyes and he chuckled once. Bella looked at him.

"Something funny?" she asked.

"Jacob." He answered. Oh he probably said something to Edward. She looked at Jacob and gave him a small smile.

"Jake's a crack up." She agreed.

"Bada bing." Jacob mumbled in a weak rim shot impression.

She smiled again and took another swig. I saw Jacob flinch when the straw pulled at empty air, making a sucking sound.

"I did it. Carlisle, if I keep this down will you take all the tubes and needles?" She asked.

"As soon as possible. Honestly they aren't really doing much good." He said.

Rosalie patted Bella's forehead and they exchanged a hopeful glance. The cup of blood made a significant difference. Some color started returning to her cheeks, her breathing was easier, her heartbeat was even and strong.

"Would you like more?" Rosalie pressed. Bella slumped her shoulders and Edward started glaring at Rosalie.

"You don't need to drink more right away love." He said.

"I know...but I want to." She admitted.

"Your body has cravings. You don't need to be embarrassed about that. We all understand. Anyone who doesn't can feel free to leave." Rosalie said.

Carlisle took the cup out of her hand.

"I'll be right back." He said.

She looked at me and Jake while he left.

"You two look terrible."

"Why thank you." I said with a chuckle.

"Look who's talking." Jake said.

"Seriously when was the last time you slept."

"I don't know to be honest." Jake said.

"I not that tired." I said.

"Aw you guys. Now I'm messing with your health, too. Don't be stupid." She said and I heard Jake grit his teeth.

"Always worrying about others huh Bella?" I said with a small laugh.

"Please go get some rest. There's some beds upstairs, feel free to use them." She offered. Rosalie shot Jacob a look that basically said 'Don't even think about it.' She just glanced at me with a softer expression then she looked at Bella.

"Thanks Bells but I'll sleep outside. Away from all the stench." He said. I rolled my eyes and Bella grimaced.

"Right. How about you T.J.?" She asked looking at me.

"Thanks but I talk in my sleep. Wouldn't want to give away something that all of you could use against me." I joked and she smiled.

Carlisle came back in with the cup and he handed it to Bella. She took it and started drinking.

"How do you feel now?" He asked.

"Hungry but I can't tell if I want food or more blood."

"Just look at her Carlisle. This is obviously what her body wants." Rosalie said sounding all smug. _Well she needs to eat food too._ I thought.

"She's human Rose so she'll need food as well. Let's give her awhile to see how this affects her and then we'll try and give her something to eat. Do you have any requests Bella?" He said.

"Eggs sounds nice." she said instantly. Her and Edward shared a small smile.

"Bella's right you two should get some rest." Edward started. " You're more than welcomed to use the accommodations here, though I understand if you'll be more comfortable outside. Don't worry we'll find you if there is anything we need." He said.

"Sure sure." Jake mumbled.

"Thank you." I said.

It went silent for a second.

"I do." Edward said and I saw Jacob nod. He moved closer to put his hand on Bella's.

"Thanks Jake." She said while grabbing his hand.

"Get her a blanket." He said while walking a way.

It was silient before a howl pierced the air.

"Shit!" Jacob hissed under his breath while running to the front door. I quickly followed him. We both leapt off the porched and phased.

_Showtime._ - I thought while we ran. Hopefully it doesn't get messy.


	14. The Wolfs Out Of The Bag Pt1

T.J. POV

There was no mistaking the urgent tone in the howl we heard. We were in such a hurry that we forgot to take off our clothes.

_Crap that was the last of my clothes._ - Jake thought.

_Shit._ - I hissed.

_Guys listen._ - Leah.

_What's going on?_ - Me and Jake asked.

_Four of them coming in fast_. - Seth said. Leah was running next to him.

_Both of you take a deep breath. I might be able to see who it is._ - I said and they the did and I almost fell over in surprise from the scents I got.

_No it can't be._ - I thought.

_What? Who is it?_ - They asked.

_It's Jared, Paul, Quil, and Collin._ - I said.

_They're slowing down and I think one of them is phasing back._ - Seth said.

Through him and Leah we could feel their paws slow down. We also felt the familiar shimmer. Seth and Leah came into view and we ran alongside them. The four of us made it into a little clearing, and not to long after so did the others. Jared was in front with his hands out and walking. The others were behind him trotting slowly.

They were all calm but alert.

_Why did Sam send Collin with them?_ - Jacob

_A diversion maybe?_ - Leah

_Could be but it wouldn't make sense for Embry, Sam, and Brady to attack the Cullens head on._ - I said.

_I could check. Wouldn't take me two minutes to go there and back._ - Leah offered.

_I could warn them too._ - Seth added.

_They might be trying to split us up._ - Jacob said.

_The Cullens know somethings up so they'll be cautious._ - I added.

Jared and the others were just staring at us waiting for us to make a move. Jared cleard his throat and stepped forward.

"White flag of truce. We're just here to talk." He said.

_Think it's true?_ - Seth asked.

_Makes sense but_ - Jake said.

_Yeah but._ - Leah agreed.

We all stayed still and Jared frowned.

"It would be easier if we could talk face to face." He said.

Jacob just stared him down.

"Ok I'll talk then. Jake, we want all of you to come home." He said and Quil whined softly seconding that statement.

"It wasn't supposed to happen like this. We shouldn't be so torn." He said.

We didn't exactly disagree with that but what were we supposed to do, just stand aside?

"We know that you feel strongly about this, but this is an overeaction." He said and Seth growled.

_So what we did was an overeaction, but attacking our allies without cause was justified?_ - He spat.

_Ease up Seth._ - Jacob

_Sorry._

Jared was looking between Seth and Jake before he spoke again.

"Sam calmed down and he spoke to the elders. They don't want any immediate action to take place." He said.

_Translation: They lost the element of surprise._ - Leah said.

"The elders agree with you. They're willing to wait until Bella is seperated from the problem. Killing her is not something we feel comfortable with."

_You should have thought of that before._ - I said and Jacob snarled at Jared.

"You know what I mean Jake. We're going to wait to reassess the situation. Decide if the...thing will be a problem."

_Ha. What a load._ - Leah

_You don't buy it?_ - Jacob

_I know what they're thinking. What Sam is thinking. Regardless of what the elders say, Sam's banking on Bella dying anyway. They're hoping you'll be so mad that..._

_I would kill the baby myself._ - He finished.

_That sounds plausible_. - I said.

Jake was thinking about what Leah said. If he would lose his mind and forget himself if that happened.

_Me and Seth will remind you._ - I said.

_Yeah._ - Seth said agreeing.

_I know you two will. Question is will I listen to you._

"Jake?" Jared asked.

Jake huffed a sigh.

_Leah make a circuit, just to be sure. I'm going to talk to him and I don't want any surprises._ - He said.

_Give me a break, Jacob you can phase in front of me. Despite my best efforts, I've seen you naked before and it doesn't do much for me, so no worries._ - She retorted.

_I'm not doing this to protect the innocence of your eyes, I'm trying to protect our backs. Now go._

Leah snorted and launched herself into the forest. Jared and the others were watching the place where she disapeared to.

"Where's she going?" Jared asked. Jake ignored him and phased back into his human form.

"Oh hey Jake." He said.

"Hey Jared."

"Thanks for talking to me."

"Yeah."

"We want you to come back."

Quil whined again.

"I don't think it will be that easy bro." Jake said.

"Come home. We can work this out. You don't belong here, at least let the others come home." Jared said pleading.

_Like that will happen._ - Seth thought.

"I'm not holding them back. I told them to go home but they decided to stay."

"So what now then?" Jared asked.

Jake thought about that for a long minute.

"I don't know. But I don't think things can go back to normal. I don't think I can turn this Alpha thing off. It feels permanent."

"You still belong with us."

"Two Alpha's can't be in the same place at once. I don't know if you felt it, but me and Sam had to fight hard against our instincts so we couldn't kill each other."

"So what, all of you are going to stay with these parasites for the rest of your lives? This is not your home and you're already out of clothes. Are you going to stay wolf all the time? You know Leah hates eating like that."

"Leah can do whatever the hell she wants to when she's hungry. She's here by her own choice I'm not telling anyone what to do."

"Sam's sorry about all of that." Jared said with a sigh. Jake shrugged.

"I'm not mad anymore."

"But?"

"But I'm not coming back right now. We're going to wait and see how it plays out, too. And we're going to watch out for the Cullens for as long as that seems necessary. Because despite what you think, this isn't just about Bella. We're protecting those who should be protected. And that applies to the Cullens, too."

Me and Seth nodded in agreement.

"I guess there's nothing that I can say to you." Jared said frowning.

"I guess not."

Jared looked at Seth and seemed focused only on him.

"Sue misses you Seth. How could you just leave her like that?" He said.

Seth whimpered and I growled. Jared took a step back when he heard me.

_Don't listen to him Seth. He's just messing with you._ - I said.

"Watch yourself Jared." Jacob warned.

"Hey I'm just telling him the truth."

"Oh please, Sue may miss Seth and Leah, but she's not exactly alone now is she?"

"What do you mean?"

"Are you kidding me Jared? She's got my dad, old Quil, and even Sam to keep her company. Of course, you're free to go Seth you know that."

Seth shook his head. Leah trotted back into the clearing.

_Nothing out there._ - She said and kept her nose in the air avoiding Jacob's figure.

"Leah?" Jared asked and she met his gaze. Her muzzle pulling back over her teeth.

"Leah, you know you don't what to be here." He said and Leah snarled at him.

Me and Seth nudged her.

_Not now._ - We both said.

"I'm sorry. I guess I shouldn't assume but you don't have any ties to the bloodsuckers." He said.

She looked deliberately at Seth and Jacob.

"You're looking out for Seth. I get that but Jacob won't let anything happen to him. He doesn't mind being here. Please come back Leah. We want you back. Sam want's you back."

Leah's tail twitched when he said that.

"Sam told me to do anything to get you guys back. I begging you Leah. Sam misses you and he wants you to come home Lee Lee."

Leah flinched when he called her that. Instantly, her anger came floodding in and she started snarling.

_You fuckers gave me shit for being in pain now you want me back? Are you fucking kidding me? Where the hell is this coming from?_ - She yelled in our heads.

She kept on snarling and when she was done, Jacob spoke.

"I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that Leah belongs wherever she wants to be." He said.

_Your damn right I do. _- Leah said growling while glaring at Jared.

"We're still a family Jared. We'll get over this feud but until we do, you probably should stick to your land. Nobody here wants a brawl right?"

"Of course not. We'll stick to our land but where is your land Jacob? Is it here, in vampire land?" Jared snapped.

"No we're currently homeless but this won't last forever. There's not much time left okay? The Cullens will leave, and these three will go home."

_What!_ - Seth and Leah whined together. I just shot Jacob a look.

"What about you Jacob?" Jared demanded.

"Back to the forest. I can't stay in La Push now. Two Alpha's equals too much tension. Besides I was headed that way before all this shit happened."

"What if we need to talk?"

"Howl but watch the line kay? And Sam doesn't need to send so many, we're not looking for a fight."

Jared scowled at Jacob but he nodded.

"See you around Jake. Or not." He grunted and started walking away.

"Wait Jared, is Embry ok?" Jacob asked.

"He's fine. Why?"

"Just wondering why Collin's here and not him."

"That's none of your business now Jake." Jared said shortly.

"Guess not. I was just curious." He said shrugging.

"I'll let Sam know about...your conditions. Goodbye Jacob."

"Bye Jared. Could you tell my dad and Rachel that I'm ok? And that I'm sorry and that I love them."

"I'll be happy to pass that a long." Jared said with a nod.

"Thanks."

"C'mon guys." Jared said walking away from us. Collin and Paul started walking away with him. Quil stayed behind and yelped softly. Jake stepped forward.

"I miss you too bro."

Quil jogged over to him and hung his head. Jake patted his shoulder.

"It will be ok." Jake said and Quil whined.

"Tell Embry I miss having you two on my flanks."

Quill nodded and pressed his nose to Jake's forehead.

_Get a room._ - Leah snorted.

Quil's head shot up and he looked over his shoulder.

"Go home bro."

Quil yelped again and trotted off after the others. Jacob Phased back in and we started talking.

_I thought you two were gonna make out_. - Leah said and Jake ignored her.

_Was that alright? Did I do anything I shouldn't have? Did I say something I shouldn't have?_ - Jacob asked.

_You did great!_ - Seth exclaimed.

_You're a natural._ - I added.

_I was kinda hoping that you would punch Jared but other than that you were good._ - Leah said.

_I guess we know why Embry wasn't allowed to come._ - Seth thought.

_Wasn't allowed?_ - Jacob asked.

_Yeah you saw Quil man he's pretty torn up. I bet 10 bucks that Embry feels just as bad, if not worse. Embry doesn't have an imprint and there's no way Quil would leave Claire. Sam's not going to risk having someone else jump ship. Embry would do that in a heartbeat if you offered him a spot._

_Really? I mean Embry never really had any problems with the Cullens, but I doubt he would mind ripping them apart if he had the chance._

_But he's your best frind Jake. He and Quil would rather stand beside you than fight you._

_Well I'm glad he stayed home then. This pack is big enough as is. You know, I'm surprised he didn't try to guilt trip you Teej._

_Either they haven't told my family or they did and they didn't get the reaction they wanted._ - I said.

_Meaning?_

_I'll explain another time, right now we need to tell the Cullens what's up._

_Right. Me and T.J. will explain things to them but me, Leah, and Thomas have to get some rest._

_Don't worry I'm fine Jake I could go another round or so. You guys go ahead and rest up._ - Seth said.

_I don't feel comfortable enough to have just one person out there._

_I'll join him after we explain. I still got enough energy left before we have to switch._ - I said.

_You sure?_

_Yeah._

_Fine. Leah go get some rest and I follow after._

_How were things before the meeting?_ - Seth asked.

I didn't say anything but a few images escaped form Jacob's mind.

_Ew._ - Seth whimpered.

_Good god that is the grossest thing I have ever see. I'm glad I don't have anything in my stomach otherwise it would be all over the forest floor._ - Leah said shaking her head in an attempt to clear it.

_Well it makes sense since Edward is a vampire. And if it helps Bella it's all good right?_ - Seth added.

_Exactly._ - I said with a nod.

Both leah and Jake were staring at us.

_What?_ - Me and Seth asked.

_I can't speak for you Matthews, but Seth was dropped alot when he was a baby._ - Leah said.

_Mostly on the head I'm guessing._ - Jake added.

_He used to gnaw on his crib bars too._

_Let me guess, lead paint?_

_Looks like it._

_Haha very funny can we go now?_ - Seth said sounding annoyed.

_Sure let's go Teej._ - Jake said and we ran.

Seth started running the perimeter and Leah phased out to get some sleep.

When we got close to house no one was outside but there was two stacks of neatly folded clothes. We trotted over them to investigate.

_I guess Edward caught our thoughts about our lack of clothing._ - Jake said.

_How nice of him._ - I said.

_Yeah nice...and weird._

I rolled my eyes. We both took the clothes in our mouths and went to phase. I got a navy blue collared shirt with blue jean pants. Jake got a white buttoned down shirt and tan pants.

"I guess these are Emmett's." I said. Jake nodded while he rolled up the sleeves of his shirt.

We both walked slowly up to the house. Well Jake did and I kept up with his pace. It was good though, I was thinking about the baby and Bella. If she was getting better, the baby would too.

"What's on your mind?" Jake asked.

"The baby."

"What about it?"

"Well if Bella started getting better, shouldn't it stand to reason that the baby would too?"

He just shrugged and didn't say anything. We hesitated when we got to the door.

"Should we knock?" I asked.

He shrugged again and opened the door. I was right on his heels. The living went back to being a living room for the most part. Their flat screen was on and Pride and Predjudice was playing although no one was really watching. Carlilse and Esme were staring out the window which was open. I could hear Emmett, Jasper, and Alice murmuring upstairs. Bella had only one tube this time for her IV drip and she was looking a whole lot better. Roslie was sitting crossed legged by her Bella's head. Edward had Bella's blanket wrapped feet in his lap. He looked up when we came into view and smiled at us. Bella looked up when he did and did the same thing but her smile was much brighter when she looked at Jacob.

_What was that about?_ I thought.

"They just wanted to talk." I said.

"Yeah there's no attack on the horizon." Jake mumbled while putting his head down.

"Yes. I heard most of it." Edward said.

Jake's head shot up and I raised an eyebrow.

"How?" Jake asked.

"Yeah we were a few miles out. That's some pretty impressive range you have there." I said.

"I heard Jacob's thought's alot more clearly because his was the most familiar. It helped even more when he was in his human form."

"Oh." was all I said.

"Good I hate repeating myself." Jake said.

"I'd tell you two to get some sleep." Bella started. "But it looks like Jake will pass out any second and you would just deny it." She told us.

She looked stronger and she sounded better. I could see a fresh cup of blood in her hands. I wonder how much more she will need.

"One Mississippi, two Mississippi." Jake mumbled as he headed for the door. I followed him so I could go run with Seth.

"Where's the flood mutt?" Rosalie muttered while looking at Jacob. He stopped to look at her.

"You wanna know how you drown a blond, Rosalie?" He started. "You glue a mirror to the bottom of a pool."

Me and Edward chuckled softly.

"I already heard that one." She said.

"That's because you were there when it was written." I quipped. Edward let out a laugh and I could hear snickering and giggling up stairs. Bella was trying hard not to smile and Carlisle and Esme were shaking with silent laughter. Rosalie was just staring at me with her mouth opened. She snapped it shut and narrowed her eyes at me.

"You know, I was just starting to like you." She said.

"Just trying lighten the mood is all." I said and me and Jake left the house. Jake went to go lie against a tree and I was going to walk further into the forest until I heard Bella speak.

"Where are you going Edward?" She asked

"There's something I forgot to tell them."

"It can wait. Let them rest."

"It will only take a second."

Me and Jake turned to the door and Edward was already outside. He had a slightly apologetic look on his face.

"What's up?" I asked.

"I'm sorry. It's just when you talking to Sam's delegates earlier, I was giving a play by play to the others. They were concerned -"

"Were not dropping our gaurd." Jake said interrupting him. " You don't have to believe Sam like we do. We're going to stay on our toes regardless."

"Oh no not that. We trust your judgement Jacob. Esme was rather troubled by the hardships this is putting all of you through. She asked me to speak with one of you privately."

"Hardships?" Jake asked.

"The homeless part in particular. She's very upset that all of you are so...bereft." He explained and Jake snorted.

"Tell her not to worry. We'll be fine." He said.

"She shouldn't feel upset. We chose this path." I said.

"She would like to help anyway she can all the same. I understand Leah doesn't like to eat in her wolf form?"

"And?" Jake demanded. I kicked him in the leg. "Ow! what was that for?"

"Stop being rude." I said and he rolled his eyes. "Go ahead Edward." I said turning to face him.

"We have human food here. We need to keep up appearances and of course when Bella get's hungry. All of you are welcomed to whatever you like."

"I'll let Seth know when I go to run with him." I said with a nod.

"I'll tell Leah when I run with her." Jake said.

"But she hates us." Edward said.

"So?" Jake asked with an eyebrow raised and I was tempted to kick him again.

"So try to tell her in a way that would make her consider it."

"I'll see what I can do."

"And then there's the matter of clothes." Edward went on.

"Oh yeah thanks." Jake said.

"Thank you." I said.

"Well there is more where that came from. Alice doesn't let us wear the same things twice so we have piles of clothes in the house."

"What do you usually do with them?" I asked.

"We donate them to Goodwill." He answered.

"Ah"

"Finding clothes for Seth may be a challange but I believe Leah is close to Esme's size."

"She probably won't like having bloodsucker castoffs. She's not as practical as the rest of us."

"I'm sure you can convince her. And please don't feel like you cannot have the benefits of a home, you're more than welcome to use whatever we have."

Jacob sat there stunned so I spoke.

"Thank you Edward and tell Esme we appreciate the gesture."

"I will."

"Edward?"

"Yes?"

"I'm sure you heard me earlier but I was wondering if-"

I didn't get to finish that sentence because there was a pained cry coming from the house. Edward was gone in a flash and Jake jumped to his feet and shuffled towards the house. When we got there Bella was panting and curved over her bump. Rosalie, Edward, Carlisle, and Esme were' hovering over her. Alice was at the top of the stairs rubbing her temples.

"Give me a second Carlisle." Bella said panting.

"Bella, I heard something crack I need to take a look." He said anxiously.

"I'm pretty sure...it was a rib. Yep right here." She said pointing to her left side.

"There may be splinters. I need to do an X-ray to make sure nothing was punctured."

"Ok." She said. Rosalie scooped Bella up into her arms. Edward was going to protest but Rose just growled at him.

"I got her." She snapped and was up the stairs in a flash. Edward and Carlisle were right behind her. Jake started to lean against the wall and slid to the ground.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Too tired to move." He mumbled.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Alice walk down the stairs. I looked at her and she gave me a small smile.

"Hi." She said.

"Hi."

She turned her attention to Jake.

"Do you want a pillow?" she asked him.

"No." he said.

"That doesn't look very comfortable." She observed.

"It's not."

"Why don't you move then?"

"Tired. Why aren't you upstairs with the rest of them?"

"I have a headache."

"Vampires get headaches?" I asked.

"Not the normal ones." She answered and Jake snorted.

"Why aren't you with Bella? I thought you two were like this?" He said while wrapping his middle finger around his trigger finger.

"Headache." She repeated while sitting a few feet away from Jacob.

"Bella's giving you a headache?" He asked.

"Yes...well it's the fetus actually."

"Oh." was all he said.

"I can't see it just like I can't see any of you." She said and Jake ground his teeth together. "I wonder what you have in common."

"We have nothing in common with that life sucker." Jake hissed and I lifted my leg so I could step on him to shut him up. Alice shook her head at me.

"There's something there I just don't know what."

"It could be genetic." I said and she looked me square in the eye.

"What do you mean?"

"Did you hear what we were talking to Carlisle about? You know about our chromosomes?" I asked and she nodded.

"What about it?"

"Well I'm guessing since you can't see us and the baby, maybe it has 24 pairs too." I said.

"That make sense." She mused.

"Could you two keep it down? I'm trying to sleep here."

"Sorry." We both said.

"I have to go run patrol with Seth. I'll check in later." I said and made my way to the door. I stopped to look at Jake.

"Don't worry I'll watch him." Alice said. I nodded and closed the door behind me. I ran into the forest to strip and phase.

_Hey bro. Man I was getting worried._ - Seth said as I phased in.

_Don't worry we were just talking about some things._ - I said and I replayed everything that happened.

_I see. So Jake's staying there?_

_I guess so. I don't know if it would be ok for him to stay there, but I didn't want to move him. Anyway let's get this over with._

We ran in silence for the most part. Occasionally Seth would try to make a joke to lighten the mood but not much was said. Sometime in the evening, Leah phased in.

_What's up?_ - She asked.

_Not much._ - I murmured.

_Where's Jake?_

_At the Cullens._

_You just left him there!_

_First off, they are not going to hurt him. Second, he can take of himself. So calm the hell down._

_Whatever. So I'm supposed to patrol with you two then?_

_No Seth can..._

_I'm fine go get some sleep bro, you need it._

_You sure?_

_I'll be fine and Leah won't bug me too much._

_Fine. I'll see you later._

I ran inside the perimeter and phased so I could go to sleep.

~~~~~~~THE NEXT MORNING~~~~~~~

I was feeling very relaxed until I felt something nudge me.

"Go away." I mumbled while I was asleep.

Nudge.

"Stop."

Nudge.

"Fuck off."

Next thing I knew something cold and wet touched the side of my face. I jumped and opened my eyes to see a big grey wolf right in front of me.

"What the fuck Leah? I was trying to sleep. You didn't need to lick me."

She rolled her eyes and turned her head into the direction of the Cullens house.

"Are they in trouble? Why didn't you howl?"

She shook her head.

"Is it Jake?"

She nodded.

"Why don't you go tell Seth to get him."

She whined and looked towards the Cullens place again.

"They're both there?"

Nod

"I'm sure they're fine."

She growled at me. I sighed.

"I'll go look but you owe me."

She rolled her eyes and moved back so I could get up. I shuffled slowly until Leah bumped me with her head.

"The house is not gonna run a way you know." I said with an eye roll. I heard her huff and I kept walking. The sun had just come over the ridge. I saw Jake in wolf form as I got closer to the house.

"Hey bro where's Seth?"

He looked at the house.

"Oh ok. You going to patrol now?"

He nodded.

"Want me to come with?"

He shook his head and looked at the house again.

"You want me to go in?"

He nodded.

"Ok see you later."

He nodded again and ran off. I walked slowly up to the house and Carlisle opened the door.

"Good morning." he said.

"Good morning Carlisle."

"Please come in."

I walked past him and I saw Seth on the couch next to Bella. I stepped in to view and their heads shot up.

"What are you doing up bro?" He asked.

"Your sister." I answered.

He rolled his eyes.

"What did she do?"

"Before or after she tried to nudge me to death and drown me in slobber?" I joked and he laughed.

"I told her I would be fine." He said.

"So did I but you know how she is. I see you look comfortable." I said. He shrugged.

"Doc says she has to alternate tempratures. She was feeling cold so I sat next to her."

"Ah."

We didn't say anything else and Esme came into the room with a plate filled with food.

"You must be hungry." She said holding the plate out to me. On cue, my stomach growled.

"I guess I am." I said sheepishly and I take the plate from her. I glance around for any open spots. There's one on the side of the couch by Seth so I decided to sit there and dig in.

"You know for people who don't eat, your cooking is great." I say after a few bites of one of my omelet's.

"Thank you." A chorus of people said.

"Seth, when are you supposed to head back out there?"

"Dusk. Jake and Leah are hunting and then they'll lead a trail up the moutains so the Cullens can hunt."

"Ok I'll head out the same time then."

We didn't say anything else after that. When I was finished, I stood up and looked at Seth.

"You done?" I asked pointing at his plate. He nodded and I motioned for him to pass it to me. Before he could, it was out of his hands and my plate disappeared as well.

"Where'd they go?" I asked.

"It was Esme." Edward started. "She doesn't mind picking up after our guest."

"She didn't need to do that." I muttered.

"It's no problem for her really."

I sighed.

"Well, I'm going to go outside." I turned to Seth." You alright for now?"

"Yeah but why are you going outside?"

"It's a bit cramped in here don't you think?" I asked looking around.

"I guess so. Are you going back to sleep?" He asked.

"And get violated by your sister again? Thanks but no thanks." I joked and he laughed along with a few others in the room. I left and went to go sit on the steps. The front door opened and Alice and Jasper came out.

"Oh hey guys what's up?"

"Nothing we just came to talk." Alice said and she sat down next to me. Jasper sat on her other side.

"How's your head?" I asked.

"Better now with you and Seth here."

"That's good."

We sat in silence. She pulled out a pen and notepad and started writing. She passed it to me and it read:

_I have no idea why but I can see you. By see you, I mean I can see you in my visions._

I raised my eyebrows at her. She handed me the pen so I could write.

_Really?_ I wrote and handed her the pad and pen. She started writing furiously and handed it back to me.

_Not you exactly but your outline. You look like a shadow figure surrounded by fuzz. I know it's you because I tried seeing the future of the other wolves and it came up blank. Do you have any idea why that is?_

I contemplated on whether or not I should say something.

_I'll tell you my theory, but you have to keep your mind blank from Edward. The both of you._ I wrote and handed it back. They both looked at me and nodded. She handed me the pad and I flipped it to a new page. I took in a deep breath and started writing.

_Please don't be mad at me, but I'm like you Alice, I can see the future. I've been able to since I was four years old. I saw alot of things growing up. I saw your family. I saw my family. I saw James, Laurent, and Victoria when they first showed up in Forks and started killing people. I saw your brother attempt suicide when he went to Italy and I saw all of you vote to make Bella a vampire. If anything, that's why you can see me._

When I finished writing, I hung my head, and handed it to her. I expected them to either laugh at me, or try and kill me, but when I looked up their faces were composed. She started writing and handed it to me when she was done.

_Pop quiz. What did Aro say when my brother refused to join him and continue with his plan to get himself killed? What happened when James got a whiff of Bella's scent? And what happened to the newborn that we let live in the clearing?_

_He said it was wasteful to lose someone like Edward. James started tracking her because that's what he did, he's a tracker. His gift was not as strong as Demitri's though. And the Volturi executed her by way of Felix._ Was my response and I handed it back to her.

After they read it, Alice looked liked she won the lottery and Jasper seemed happy. Probably feeling all of that happiness from Alice I guess. She hugged me and I froze. I patted her back with my right hand and kept my left to myself. I'm pushing Jasper's limits as is, don't need to piss him off. She let go and started writing again. After 10 seconds she gave it back to me.

_Oh. My. God! This is so exciting! Why didn't you say anything sooner? Does your pack know? Does anyone else know? Details man, I need details!_

I laughed when I was finished reading it. This so her. I started writing after I composed myself.

_My pack doesn't know I'm gifted, only my mother and grandmother know. My mother has the same gift but she's very limited compared to me and you. She occasionally has dreams, some cryptic, some to the point, but they always come true. I'm the same way but I get snippets of conversations or events and I get them while I'm awake as well. I didn't say anything sooner because honestly who would believe me? Have you ever heard of wolves having gifts? I'm pretty sure I'm the first one in exsistance._

I handed it to her and she started writing after she finished reading it. She handed it back to me.

_So it runs in your family? And do you see subjective futures or absolute ones?_

_Well only me and my mom have this gift. We're the only ones I think but we've never really checked. Alot of what I've seen has been absolute but that's only because everything fell into place and nothing interfered with those futures._ I answered and handed it back.

_Did you see the fetus?_ She asked.

_Yes but I didn't believe it._

_Why?_

_Because we've been told that vampires cannot have children. Even after I saw Jacob come back and confirm it I still couldn't wrap my head around it. I should have said something earlier and I'm really sorry but there was no way I could have truly proven this to you. At least not this._

_This is not your fault. To be honest, even if you passed whatever test we gave you, I don't think we would have believed you. This came as a shock to all of us so don't beat yourself up._

_Thanks pixie pire._

She raised her eyebrows at me.

_What?_

_Pixie pire?_

_Would you prefer tinkerbell?_

She laughed and Jasper chuckled.

_Do you have any nicknames for Jasper?_

_Well that depends. Would he prefer Colonel Sanders or Major Mood Ring?_

She laughed louder this time and Jasper's face dropped.

"That's not funny." He said speaking out loud for the first time.

"Aw Jazzy, it's fine my seeing eye dog was just playing."

This time I raised my eyebrows at her.

"Seeing eye dog?"

She starts writing something on the note pad.

_It's because you can see the blidspots in my visions. Well at least when it comes to the wolves. You haven't seen antything about the fetus have you?_

I shook my head.

_What was the last thing you saw?_

_Just Bella's baby bump and her looking frail. It was strange though, I saw it from Jacob's POV and that's never happpened before._

_How do you usually see them?_

_If it involves me it's from my point of view. If it involves someone else it's like I'm watching a movie or something. That was the first time that happened and it was another reason I didn't believe it._

"That's interesting." She says a loud.

_If you see anything else, you'll tell us right?_

_You? sure. Them? I'm not comfortable with the idea._

_Why?_

_How am I going to explain that I saw something not even you could see? I can be observant at the best of times but that won't save me from the onslaught of questions._

She pursed her lips.

"That's true." she murmured.

We went silent and I could hear someone snoring.

"I'm going to phase to see whatever progress Leah and Jake have made. Then I'm going to take a shower in the stream."

"Why can't you shower here?" She asked.

I tapped the side of my head and pointed towards the house. She started writing on the pad.

_Edward?_

I nodded.

_You're afraid he'll see you have a vision?_

Nod.

"Ok. We'll let me get you some clothes."

"It's fine Alice. I'll just wear this again." I said and she looked at me like I commited the worst crime ever.

"You shouldn't have said that." Jasper said shaking his head.

Before I could say anything else, Alice was gone in a flash. She came back with another shirt and jeans. She held them out to me.

"You will take these and I will not take any lip from you." She said in a stern voice. I sighed.

"I'm only taking these because I don't want you to kill me in my sleep." I said grabbing them and walking a way.

"Bye my seeing eye dog." She called. I laughed.

"Bye my little pixie pire. Later Major." I called over my shoulder and kept walking into the forest.

It took me about half an hour on foot to get near the part of our perimeter that cuts through the stream. I stripped and phased in.

_Jake?_

_What's up _

_I was just checking you're progress. _

_Well me and Leah got pretty far without detecting any member of Sam's pack._

_That's good. I can tell the Cullens after I shower if you want._

_It's fine I'm on my way back. Take your time._

_Ok later._

And I phased out so I could jump in the stream. If I was human, I would have pneumonia the second I jumped in, but it felt alright to me. I was in the stream for no more than 10 minutes. It wasn't really a bath more like a rinse but I felt refreshed none the less. I was dry before I grabbed the new clothes Alice gave me.

I put them on and headed back to the house.


	15. The Wolfs Out Of The Bag Pt2

T.J. POV

The time it took me to get back to the house was alot shorter this time because I ran top speed all the way there. Ah the beauty of increased stamina. When I got close to the house, I couldn't see Jacob and I couldn't smell him either. I walked to the front door to knock but Carlisle opened it before I could.

"You don't need to knock." He said and I shrugged.

"I was always taught to knock."

"Well you don't need to. This is your home just as much as it is ours."

"Thank you." I said and he shook his hand dismisively.

"Think nothing of it."

He moved aside and I walked past him. He flitted away somewhere after I went into the living room. I didn't see Seth anywhere but I could here him snoring upstairs. Edward was sitting next to Bella who was taking a nap. Rosalie was still near Bella's head.

"How goes things?" I asked no one in particular.

"A little better now." Edward said.

"Did Jacob stop by?" I asked.

"Yes. He said that everythings clear enough for us to hunt. We're going seperately though."

"When?"

"Carlisle, Esme, Alice, Jasper, and Emmett are going first. Carlisle's calling a few contacts he has to get more blood for Bella. We're running out."

"Oh."

"May I ask you something?" He said.

"Sure."

"What were you, Jasper, and Alice talking about earlier?"

"Nothing just chatting and joking with eachother."

"Why did you block your minds from me?"

"Alice figured you would rather focus on one thing instead of them and Jasper needed to get away from all the stress."

"How did you speak to them?"

"Alice brought a note pad and a pen."

"Why was Alice laughing?"

"I came up with a nickname for her and Jasper."

"Oh?"

"I call Alice my little pixie pire although you already heard that I'm sure." I paused so he could answer and he nodded." And I call Jasper Major-"

"Don't you even think about finishing that sentence!" Jasper hissed from somewhere in the house. "Don't let him in your mind either!" He said and I laughed softly.

"I'll tell you later." I told Edward and I could hear Jasper growling. "Do you need anything?" I asked.

"No we're fine but could you stay close just in case she get's cold? I don't want to bother Seth."

"Sure. I'll just be outside."

You don't have to go."

"Nah it's-"

Bella jumped a little and tapped Rosalie.

"Rose?"

"Bathroom?"

"Please."

"Ok."

Edward stood up and Rosalie gingerly picked bella up and flashed out of the room.

"Did she use the bathroom often before you gave her the blood?" I asked.

"No. She wasn't able to hold anything down but with a mostly liquid diet and her being pregnant, she goes more frequently."

"I suppose that's a good thing." I said as I leaned against the wall.

"You can sit in a chair." He offered and I shook my head.

"I'm fine really."

He didn't respond and Bella let out another pained cry. Edward was out of the room and I heard a loud thud.

"Ow." Seth murmured and I heard someone giggle. I guess Alice annd Jasper are in the same room as him.

"You all right bro?"

"Just surprised is all. What time is it?"

"Mid morning I think. " I glanced around the room for a clock. When I found one it read 10:25. "Yep mid morning. Just go back to sleep I'll wake you up when we need to go."

"Kay." He mumbled and I could hear his breathing even out. Good, he's drifting off.

Edward flashed back into the room.

"What happened?"

"The fetus broke another rib." He said clenching his teeth. "You were right."

"What was I right about again?" I asked geniunely confused.

"When you were talking to Jacob yesterday, you said that if she was getting stronger so was the fetus. You were right."

"Just an observation is all."

"It was a good one. Have you always been this observant?"

"Pretty much."

He didn't say anything because Rosalie came back in with Bella. She stalked past Edward.

"I don't know why your so anxious. I read somewhere that human babies are capable of breaking bones too. No need to get your panties in a twist." She said.

I could hear a growl rumble through Edward's chest and he crouched low ready to spring. I jumped to my feet and put a hand on his shoulder.

_She's just taunting you Edward. Don't give in._ I thought.

He shrugged my hand off and went to go talk to Bella.

"Are you feeling cold? Are you hungry? Do you need anything?" He asked.

"I'm not hungry and I feel a little cold." She said and Edward turned to me.

"Would you mind?" He asked.

"No. Not at all." I said and I stood up to go sit next to her. I sat close enough so I wasn't crushing her but where she could feel my body heat. I threw my arm around her and looked at the T.V. It was playing a movie that I haven't watched in awhile.

"District B-13?"

"You know this film?" Edward asked.

"Yeah one of my cousins got it for me for my 14th birthday. It's one of my favorites."

"Emmett's too. I often wonder if these stunts are actually performed by the actors, but Emmett says they are."

"Yeah they are. Well a fair amount of them anyway. I'm sure the producers only let them get away with so much before they make them sit it out. Anyway, David Belle, the actor playing Leito, is the founder of parkour. Cyril Raffaelli, the actor playing Damien, is one of the best stuntmen and fight choreographers in the world."

"You seem to know alot about them."

"I'm a big fan of their work. What they do is very impressive. Well by human standards at least."

"You're human too." He said frowning.

"Barely. Humans don't turn into giant wolves."

"Thank god for that." Rosalie muttered.

"Please Rose." Bella said.

"It's fine Bella. Actually, I have a question for you Rosalie. Well several depending on how you answer."

She let out annoyed sigh.

"Fine ask away." She said not looking at me.

"Why do you despise my kind?"

"Well, let me think about that for a second." She tapped her finger to her chin to assume a thinking pose. "All of you smell like wet dog. All of you seem to think that you're better than us. Most of you excercise very little control. You can turn into giant, disgusting mutts. So you are all around unnatural. Does that answer your question?" She said turning to me and I started laughing. Hard.

"What the hell is so funny?" She asked.

After I composed myself I answered her.

"Do you not see the irony in what you just said?"

She just kept staring at me.

"What you just said about me and mine can be applied to you and yours. I can't really comment on the smell because things smell differently to me, and you don't change into another form, but everything else fits." I said and she scoffed.

"I don't think I'm better than you, I know I am. I don't care what I smell like to you, all I know is it's alot better than what you smell like to me. And thank god I can't turn into a dog because if I could I would shoot myself!"

"Ok then. So how are you better than me?"

"Well, for one I'm stronger-"

"Correction, you're more durable and without fighting skill, strength means nothing." I said interrupting her.

"Whatever. I'm faster-"

"Four legs are better than two."

"You're stuck at whatever age you change or whatever it is you do just like us."

"We can age as long as we stop phasing for an extened period of time."

"You can?"

"Yes but it's kinda hard to do that when there's an entire coven so close to where we live. Doesn't help when we get a nomad passing through either."

"What does that have to do with anything?" She asked.

"Well, in the presence of vampires, whether it's a coven taking up a permenant residence or a nomad passing through, we change. It's in our blood to protect our people and our one true enemy is you. Well not you specifically but your kind."

"So is that why you despise us then? Because you changed?" She asked with geniune concern. I almost forgot that it took her awhile to get used to what she became and that she wouldn't wish it on anyone.

"I personally don't despise you but a few of us do hold it against you."

"Why don't you despise us?" Edward asked joining the conversation.

"Because you weren't the reason I changed it was..." I paused to look at Bella and then I whispered low enough for Rosalie and Edward to hear. "It was Victoria." I said and they both ground their teeth together. "She kept running around the reservation and three of us, myself included, phased for the first time."

"Then why do the others hate us?"

"Well with Sam, he had no one when he changed. He thought he lost his mind and even when he found out what he was he couldn't tell anyone. He was very bitter but he's gotten over it. Actually, the majority of us don't mind being what we are. To be honest it has it's benefits."

"Like what?" Rosalie asked incredulously.

"Besides having the strength of 10 men? The increased stamina and perfect reflexes? When we're wolves running through the forest at an insane speed is...exhilirating. Even with all the rules and hearing each other's thoughts, the freedom that comes with it is unlike anything I've ever felt. I know I'm not making much sense but that's how I feel."

"Are you sure you should be saying any of this?" Edward asked and I shrugged.

"What's the worst that could happen? I'm sure I'm already branded a traitor and even if I can go back to La Push, I won't join Sam's pack again."

"Why not?"

"I'd never hear the end of it and it just wouldn't be right for me to go back with him."

"So what are you gonna do?"

I shrugged.

"Don't know I'll probably just follow Jacob or try to become an Alpha myself."

"Could you do that?" He asked and I nodded.

"I'm a son of Ephraim Black just like Jacob. My blood is watered down so I won't be as strong an Alpha as Jacob is, but it should work."

"If you couldn't go home is that what you would do?"

"Probably. I'd say my goodbyes to my family and high tail it out of there." I said and I turned to Bella who was listening intently to this conversation. "Are you feeling hot?"

"No. I'm nice and warm. Thanks for helping."

"No problem." I said and turned my attention to the T.V.

"How many are there in your family?" Rosalie asked.

"My immediate one or my pack family?"

"The former."

"Just my mother and my grandma."

"Would you like to call them?" She asked pulling out her cell phone. _Weird._ I thought.

"Um sure." _Where is this coming from?_

She handed it to me and I flipped it open with my free hand. I dialed the number waited for it to ring. It rang four times before someone answered.

"Hello?"

"Grandma is that you?"

"T.J.? Oh my god where are you? You had us worried sick!"

"I'm sorry."

"Hold on. Sharon!" She yelled and I had to hold the phone away from my ear.

"Hello?"

"Hi mom."

"I haven't heard from you in two days and all you can say is hi!" She shrieked. I winced.

"I'm sorry mom."

"When are you coming home?"

"I don't know."

"Does whatever that's stopping you from coming home have anything to do with this wolf business?" She asked. Shit. Why did she ask that?

"More or less."

"What happened?"

"I'm surprised the pack didn't tell you."

"They didn't. Nobody did. I guess they still don't know that I know about all of this."

"Yeah they don't."

"Can you please tell me what happened."

"It's complicated."

"I'm sure you can explain it."

"It's very long."

"Shorten it."

"Mom everything's-"

"Thomas James Nakoa Matthews, don't you dare tell me everything is fine! If everything was fine you would be home instead of god knows where...wait where are you?"

"With friends."

"Which friends exactly?"

"The Cullens."

She went quiet.

"Are they treating you good?"

"Yes they are. Alot better than most people would."

"Are you behaving well?"

"Yes mom." I said sighing. Why wouldn't I behave myself?

"Ok. Well you'll come home soon right?"

"I don't know. With what happened...I don't know if I can."

"Please come home." She said. It sounded like she was crying.

"I can't abandon my friends when they need me mom. That's not who I am. I'm sorry. I'll try and call more often but I can't lie to you and say that I can come home now."

She sniffled.

"I love you."

"I love you too mom. Give my love to grandma." I said while fighting back tears.

"I will. Bye son."

"Bye mom." I said and she hung up. I snapped the phone shut and handed it back to Rosalie who was looking at me with a sad expression.

"Thank you Rosalie. That meant alot too me." I said and she nodded.

I had to take a deep breath so I wouldn't lose it.

"Edward?"

"Yes?"

"Is Seth still a sleep?"

"Yes."

"So he didn't hear what I just said?"

"No."

"Good."

"Your mother knows what you are?"

"Yeah. She knew it was a possibility that I could become this."

"Why do the others not know that she knows? And why is it a big deal that she knows?"

"Secrecy is a big thing with us. Those who know only do so because they are either a wolf or they're apart of the council."

He didn't say anything and I was grateful for that. I just kept looking at the screen even though I wasn't really watching. Bella got up every so often to use the bathroom and I switched places with Edward around two. Esme made us these massive sub sandwiches with pretty much every cold cut known to man. They were fantastic and I kinda felt bad for not sharing any with Jake and Leah but I know them they wouldn't take it. Leah would throw them in the stream and wouldn't hesitate to do it again. Jake would at least politely decline the offer. Well as polite as he can get lately.

Carlisle, Esme, Emmett, Jasper, and Alice left around 4 to go hunting and before I knew it, it was dusk. Me and Seth ran into the forest to phase.

_Jake?_ - We said.

_What's up?_

_Nothing really just came to switch._

_I'm fine you can go back if you want._

_No it's fine we can take the circle._

_How's Bella?_

_Another one of her ribs broke._ - I said.

_She may get cold again. I could go back..._

_No I got it._ - Jake said interrupting Seth and he headed towards the Cullens house. We and Seth we're already in the north half of the circle by the time he phased out.

_I'll run ahead just in case someone ties to get by us._

_Kay._

I ran ahead of him and made it to the south western half of the circle before he even reached the north western part of the circle.

_You're fast bro._

_Your sister is faster._

_But you come pretty close to her in speed. Your close to Jake in strength. If you had to fight any of the others, the only one that could take you would be Sam or Paul. Well the old Paul at least, he's not so bad anymore. Sam comes close but you have more skill than he does._

I mentally shrugged and we didn't say anything else. I was running along the eastern perimeter and I saw some fancy car driving away from the Cullens place. I thought maybe one of them was running an errand but I saw Jake in the driver seat.

_Where is he going?_ - Seth asked.

_I don't know, but would you mind running the circle for now? I'm going to go talk to the Cullens and see what happened._

_I got this Teej, go right ahead._

I didn't say anything. I just ran right through the circle towards the house. I was very close so I phased out and put my clothes on. I jogged to the front porch and was greeted by Edward.

"I take it you saw Jacob leave?"

"Yeah I did. What happened, is Bella ok?"

"She's fine. Everything's...different now." He said with a small smile.

"What do you mean?"

"I can hear the thoughts from the fe...baby."

"You can?"

"Yes."

"Well that's great right?"

"It is. The baby's thoughts are so pure it's...amazing."

"But what does this have to do with Jake?"

"He feels...alone now because I...I don't hate the baby anymore."

"Oh. Well what kind of thoughts does the baby have?"

"Well he or she is very sorry for hurting Bella. He or she loves her voice and loves Bella already before he or she have even seen her."

"Oh." Was all I could say. Jake must be in alot of pain right now.

"I let him borrow one of my cars so he could...take a break if you will."

"I see. Well have you heard from the others?"

"Alice and Jasper are in, but the others are either still hunting or getting some more supplies. I'm...going to ask Carlisle to try and deliver the baby as soon as he gets back."

"Why? I thought you said she was fine?"

"She is and that's why I want the baby to be delivered now, while she has whatever strength she has left."

"That makes sense. So I'm guessing you'll start the process of changing her after the baby is born?"

"Yes. That's the safest option for the both of them."

"How long do these things usually take?"

"2 to 3 days."

"So she should be up by the 13th at the latest?"

"Yes."

"I'm gonna go fill Seth in and maybe I'll stick around until Jake get's back. If that's alright with you."

"Sure."

"I'll just be a moment." I said. He nodded and flashed into the house. I ran into the forest, stripped, and phased.

_What happened?_ - Seth asked when I phased in.

I replayed my conversation with Edward.

_Oh._ - Was all he could say.

_Just take the whole circle and if your sister wakes up tell her that she is to stay with you. That's an order._

_Got it._

I phased out and went to sit on the front porch. I was out there for at least 5 minutes before Alice and Jasper came out.

"My little pixie pire." I said to Alice with a smile. "Major." I said to Jasper with a nod.

"My seeing eye dog." Alice said grinning.

"Benji." Jasper drawled and I raised an eye brow.

"Well, if you insist on calling me Major, I should call you something too."

"And a fictional character from the 1970's is the best thing you can come up with?" I asked and he shrugged.

"Would you prefer Lassie?" He asked seriously and Alice giggled while I rolled my eyes.

"You couldn't give me a millitary rank?"

"Have you aspired to join the military?" He asked and I shook my head.

"Well then I can't give you one."

"If I did, Private would be what I get first right?"

"Yes. Although given what I've read from you, you would rise up in the ranks very quickly. You're very in control. You know how to handle situations very quickly and effectively. You would have made a great soldier. Any field commander would be glad to have you." He said sitting down on my right. Alice sat on my left. She took out the notepad she used before and started writing.

_Have you seen anything about the baby?_ She wrote and I shook my head. I motioned for her to give me the pad so I could write.

_My visions just come out of no where. You can see quite a bit because you know what triggers them but I don't. Actually, what triggered your vision of me?_

I handed it back to her so she could read it.

_I don't know. It just sort of happened. I knew that it felt familiar and I went through all the beings I've encountered until you came up_.

"Interesting." I said.

She didn't say anything she just wrote something down.

_You should visit our cousins up in Alaska. One of their members has the gift to identify abilities. He might be able to help you understand how your gift works if he hasn't already._

_I didn't know that._

_You didn't meet them at the wedding?_

I shook my head.

_I heard them speaking and honestly something strange happened to me._

_What?_

_One of their members was very...appealing to me and I have no idea why._

_Who was it?_

_Tanya._

_Really?_

_Yeah. Her scent was intoxicating and I thought her voice was amazing but I never looked at her once._

Alice and Jasper exchanged a look.

"What?"

Alice started writing furiously.

_While people were giving their speeches, Tanya would glance over in your direction every so often. Jasper said he didn't feel anything negative from her infact, he felt the opposite. Her feelings were pure and good. He said her feelings were like the ones Carlisle has with Esme or any of the mated vampires he's come across. I think you are her soulmate. I've never heard of vampires finding our soulmates with species other than our own except if their mate happened to be human at the time. So I need to ask, how does your kind find your soulmates?_

I flipped over to next page and started writing.

_We call it imprinting. If we look at the person we're meant to be with, then nothing else matters. Sure, we would still love and cherish our famliy members or friends, but they would be at the back of our minds and our imprints in the front. You could call it love at first sight but it's much more than that. It's complete and utter devotion. You are there to protect them and make them happy. I know I make it sound like imprinting takes away your will, that it makes you a slave, but from what I've seen it's not like that. You be what they need you to be. A friend, a brother, a lover, or nothing at all._

I handed it to Alice and she looked thoughtful as she wrote her reply.

_How many of you have imprinted?_

_Only a four. It's supposed to be rare amongst our kind, but at the rate things have been going at, I'd say it's not._

_Have all of them been human?_

_From our records, and from what I've seen so far, yes._

_Is it possible that Tanya is your imprint?_

_It would explain the effect she had on me. What I felt for her wasn't forced it was...natural. I don't know how she'll take to being mated to me though._

_What do you mean?_

I chuckled softly.

_I am genetically made to kill your kind. Maybe not in this form but in my other one. Your family with the exception of Rosalie may not have a problem with us, but I can't really say the same about the rest._

I was about to hand it back to her but Jasper grabbed it instead and started writing. He handed it to me when he was done.

_Look, she felt good everytime she laid eyes on you. I'm sure Edward saw something in her mind that would reflect what she felt as well. Trust me Private, she cares about you. You are her soulmate and she is yours. Her sister Irina may feel upset about it but it won't matter. You belong with each other and there is nothing that can break it._

I smiled at what he said up until the part about Tanya's sister.

_Why would Irina feel upset about her sister being my soulmate? Does she hate werewolves or something?_

_She never really cared about it but after your pack killed Laurent-_

"Wait what does he have to do with this?" I said out loud.

He didn't say anything and Alice took the pad from him so she could write.

_You didn't see him go up to Alaska after we first met him?_

I shook my head.

_All I saw was him telling you to watch out for James and Victoria. Then there was the time he came back to...get a lay of the land. But what does this have to do with Irina?_

_Her and Laurent got very close when he went up to Alaska. We asked them for assitance with the newborns but they refused because Carlisle wouldn't let Irina kill any of you._

_Wait when did you ask them for help?_

_A week before Bella's graduation party._

_But I didn't see that._

_You didn't see Carlisle call them for help?_

_No. Wait who answered the phone?_

_Tanya. Why?_

_That might be why I didn't see Laurent go up to Alaska. Or why I didn't see the phone call._

_You're losing me here doggie._

_I've seen members of my family find their soulmates but I've never seen mine. I think...I couldn't see her or her family because I was blocked. I don't think I was allowed to see her until the day I'm supposed to._

"That makes sense...I guess." She said.

"I know it doesn't mean much, but it's the only thing I can think of."

She didn't get a chance to say anything else because we heard a car pulling up the drive way. Jake pulled up to the garage and Edward was waiting for him."Excuse me." I told Jasper and Alice. I jumped up from the steps and walked over to Jake.

"Thanks for the loan." Jake mumbled and his eyes met mine. "What are you doing here?" he asked me.

"Waiting for you."

"Whose got the circle?"

"Seth but I wouldn't be surprised if Leah woke up by now."

"Well get back out there. I fill you in later."

"Gotcha."

I ran into the forest to phase.

_Seth?_

_Yeah?_

_Everything clear on your end?_

_Yeah. How's Jake._

_He seems...ok. He said he'll fill us in later._

_Kay._

We went silent again and about an hour and a half later, Leah phased in.

_Whose out there?_

_Me_. - Me and Seth said at the same time causing us both to laugh. Leah just rolled her eyes.

_Where's Jake?_

_At the Cullens. Would you mind running with Seth so I can check in with him and the others?_ - I asked.

_Sure. Whatever._

_Thanks._ - I said and ran inside the circle again and headed to the house. I phased out and put my clothes on so I could jog over to the porch. When I got to the front step I could hear Rosalie arguing with someone.

"Why should I let you hold her dog?" Rosalie hissed.

"I just want to see her. Please." Jacob said pleading. Jacob pleading with Rosalie? What the hell? Wait, her who?

"Just let him hold her Rosie. He looks like he could pass out if he doesn't." Emmett said. I guess he came back.

"No." She hissed.

"Give him the baby Rose. Or I will pry her out of your hands myself." Surprisingly that came from Alice.

"No." She ground out.

"Let him hold her Rose. She'll be safe." Came Edward's voice. He didn't sound to thrilled with the idea.

I ran up the porch steps and went inside just in time to see Jake cradle the baby.

"Jake?" I said.

"Isn't she something?" He said with out taking his eyes off the pink bundle.

"Um I guess but why-" I stopped talking when I saw the look on his face. He wasn't in pain anymore. He was happy, complete even. But that means...No way. He imprinted on Bella's baby?

I took one step forward when my eyes glazed over and I started having a vision. Actually it was several at once and it was even more intense than usual. It was starting to take a toll on my mind. I grabbed each side of my head and I could blood feel trickling out of my nose. My breathing become labored and my heart felt like it was going to burst out of my chest. I started falling forward but I felt someone catch me.

"Shh it will be alright." Was the last thing I heard before everything went black.

JASPER POV

Not too long after he came into the house, Thomas started acting strange. He didn't even enter the room before his face went blank and his eyes glazed over. That's almost the same face Alice makes when she...no he's having a vision right now? His breathing became labored, his heartbeat was erratic, and blood was coming out of his nose. He grabbed each side of his head and started falling forward. I ran to him and caught him before he could fall further.

"Shh it will be alright." Alice cooed as she appeared right next to him.

I put his left arm over my shoulder and went to go set him on the couch. I could feel worry coming off of Alice. I didn't know if it was what Thomas might have seen or if it was because his secret got out. She left the room and went into the kitchen. I also felt confusion coming off of Jacob and Emmett. I could feel a hint of concern coming off of Rosalie but I could mostly feel resentment when she would look at Jacob.

"What's going on?" Emmett asked.

"Why was he acting like that?" Jacob asked.

"I can't really say. We should wait until he wakes up." I said.

_Edward?_ I thought. _Did you see anything in his head?_

"Yes I did." He said.

_Anything bad?_

"It's too jumbled for me to make out. Wait why would there be anything bad? What just happened?"

I didn't say anything. I placed him gingerly on the couch and Alice appeared right next to me with a bowl of water, two wash cloths, and knelt down by his head. She placed one wash cloth in the water and wringed it out so she could place it on his head. She did the same thing with the other one so she could wipe the blood away.

"It might not help much but it might make him comfortable." She said. "Did you feel anything off of him? Does it feel similar to what happens to me?" She asked without looking at me. I placed a hand on her shoulder.

"It was more intense than what I feel from you. I don't know if it was because of what he saw or if it's a regular occurence, but I'm sure he'll be fine darlin'."

She didn't say anything but I could still feel her worry. To be honest I'm a little worried myself what if he saw something terrible? I just shook my head and listened to his heartbeat and breathing even out. He would stir every so often but other than that he was fine.

"Can someone tell me what is going on?" Rosalie demanded.

"I told you I can't say anything."

"Why not?"

"It involves a secret that is not mine to tell. Like I said, lets wait until he wakes up."

She didn't seem pleased with my answer but she let it drop.

_Edward? What's he thinking?_

"His mind is trying to process what he just saw. Is he what I think he is?"

_You'll just have to wait like everybody else._

After that I didn't think or say anything else. I just watched over someone I could see myself becoming great friends with. Someone I could consider a brother in arms.


	16. It's What You Wanted

T.J. POV

The morning after I had my...let's call it a visual meltdown, I woke up with a splitting headache.

**FLASHBACK**

I opened my eyes very fast and that was a big mistake. I had to close my eyes just as fast as I opened them because it was too bright. I blinked repeatedly to get used to lighting. When they were fully open, Alice was kneeling next to me, Jasper was right next to her.

"Hey doggie, how ya feeling?" Alice said.

"Well pixie, it feels like I went a round or two with Jane, but other than that I'm just peachy." I said sarcastically. She giggled and Jasper let out a deep chuckle. Carlisle both flashed over to us. He was holding a glass of water and a bottle of asprin. He held them out to me.

"Will that really help me?"

"Yes but you'll need to take at least 4 times the amount that normal people have to take at half the time for it to have any effect."

"So instead of 2 pills I have to take 8? And instead of taking them every two hours I have to take them every hour?"

"Correct."

I shrugged, sat up, and took out eight pills. I popped them in my mouth and downed the water. When I finished all three of them were looking at me expectantly.

"Before I answer any of your questions, I need to know where Jacob is."

"He left about an hour ago. Where to I don't know." Carlisle said.

"I know where he went but all of you need to be calm when I tell you. Ok?" I asked and they nodded.

"Ok, he went to go get Sam to explain the situation here. Sam is going to come back with him to discuss a new treaty. Well it will be the same one just more absolute. There will be permanent peace between our familes now."

"Why exactly?" Carlisle asked.

"Why is he coming here or why will there be absolute peace?"

"Both."

"Edward, what did you exactly see in Jacob's mind last night. Wait I passed out last night right? I haven't been out for like a day or something?" I asked them and they nodded. "Ok well Edward what did you see?"

"Love...and adoration. He really loves her." He said that last part through his teeth.

"Jasper, did you feel what Edward described?"

"Yes. All that anger and pain Jacob had went out the window the second he saw Renesmee. Did he do what I think he did?"

"Yep he...wait where is the child right now?"

"Outside with Rosalie and Emmett."

_Edward? I take it you don't want your daughter to know about her being imprinted on?_

"No I don't."

_Then I won't say anything. Although it would explain so much._

"What do you mean?" He asked.

_This would explain why Jacob and Bella couldn't let each other go. The connection was made before she was even concieved._

"Is there anyway to break it?" He asked and I sighed. I could tell he was hopeful.

_No there isn't. Look Edward, I know you don't particularly like Jacob, but he won't hurt your daughter. He loves her unconditionally like you do. Sure maybe one day she might fall in love with him. But that will be her decision to make. Honestly, even though this seems like she has no choice, she does. She will decide what kind of role she plays in his life. And right now, she just sees him as a brother does she not?_

"Yes." He admitted reluctantly. "Wait, how did you know that?"

_Well I saw it and Jacob is not the first wolf to imprint on a child. Trust me this caused a bit of a scandal in the pack but he has no romantic feelings for his imprint and neither does Jacob. Correct?_

"Yes."

"Well then, there's not much I can say about that anymore. Carlisle, Sam will be here in about 20 minutes you should prepare." I said turning to him.

"But you never explained why."

"Well, get out of earshot of us, and ask Sam and he will explain."

"If you say so." He said and flashed out the room.

"Are you going to fill us in?" Jasper asked with an eye brow raised.

"Later. Right now though, I owe Seth and Leah an apology."

"For what?"

"You'll see."

**END FLASHBACK**

Then, that same morning, I decide to tell my pack the truth. It went as well as I could've expected.

**FLASHBACK**

I went outside with Jasper and Alice trailing behind. Rosalie and Emmett were on the front porch and I could see Seth and Leah in their human forms deep in the forest.

"Um would you guys mind going inside." I said to Rosalie and Emmett. "This is going to get a little messy and I don't want the baby to see or hear anything."

They both nodded and flashed inside.

"Alice do you have that note-" I didn't get to finish the question because she already pulled out the note pad and handed it to me. I forgot that she could see me now. Well, sort of. I took it from her and started writing.

_I need you two to stay close and hold Seth back for me._

I gave it to them and they both raised an eyebrow.

"Just trust me."

I took a deep breath and headed to Seth and Leah.

"Hey Teej. What happened to you last night?" Seth asked.

"Well," I started. "It has something to do with what I've been keeping secret for the past 14 years." I paused and they both just stared at me. I took another deep breath and continued.

"You know how vampires can have gifts?" I asked and the both nodded.

"Well I have one too. I can see the future."

They both just stared at me. They looked at each other and started laughing. I frowned at them. What the hell was funny about this?

"Very funny Matthews." Leah said.

"Yeah bro good one. Now seriously what happened last night?"

I sighed. _Time to bring out the big guns._ I thought.

"Seth when you were 10 you made your dad check your closet for monsters." I said and he gasped.

"I did not!" He whined and Leah was laughing.

"Oh yes you did. I remember it well 'Daddy, daddy there's a monster in my closet and it's gonna eat me!" She laughed even harder and Seth looked mortified.

"You're no better Leah." I started. "When you were eight, you would pretend to be a wolf and chase Seth around the house."

She stopped laughing to glare at me and Seth started cracking up.

"Oh yeah I remember that. You would howl, bite anyone that came near you, and you would run on all fours!" He said grabbing his sides and I could hear Emmett's booming laughter behind me followed by a smack.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah that's nice and everything but that's something from our past, not our future. Tell us something from the future since that's what you can do." Leah said with an eye roll.

"Ok. Last night one of the things I saw was you beating me senseless."

Her eyebrows shot up.

"Now why would I do that? I've never had a problem with you so what gives?"

"You beat me because of what I'm about to do."

"Which is what?" She asked eyeing me warily.

"I bring up things you don't want to remember because it hurts too much. Like your first date with Sam." I paused and she flinched. "You were 14 about to turn 15. Sam just turned 16 and he got his permit. He was using the same truck he has now and he was so terrible at it he almost crashed." I stopped to pause again. "You were wearing a yellow sundress that stopped right at your knees with a pair of sandals. Sam was wearing some jeans with a flannel shirt. That was the night you two had your first kiss."

"That doesn't prove anything. You could have seen it in Sam's memories." She said shaking her head.

"You know I don't like to delve into the others minds Leah. Did you ever wonder why I always blocked my mind? Well I didn't want anyone to be in my head, looking into my memories."

"Why what would they see?"

"Every vision I had thus far."

"Stop it. Just stop it. Wolves don't have gifts we aren't freaks."

"I've had this gift since I was a child. Passed down from my mother to me. I've seen many things, mostly supernatural things. I did get a few human moment as well, like when Sam proposed to you." I said and She glared at me.

"Don't-"

"You where a junior in the rez school. Sam was a senior." I said interrupting her.

"This isn't funny bro." Seth said sounding serious.

I started walking towards Leah and she was stepping back.

"Stay away." She sneered.

"You were both walking down the beach and he was leading you to the rocks. You said 'Sammy where are we going?' And he said 'Don't worry Lee Lee, you can trust me.' He brought you to an underwater cave and said 'Lee Lee, you know I love you right?' And you said 'Of course I do Sammy.'

I grasped her hand in mine.

"He took your hand and got down on one knee. He fished a small black box out of his pocket and opened it. He said 'Leah Susan Clearwater, my Lee Lee, would you do me the honor of making-"

Leah's fist connected with my jaw before I could finish the sentnce. I flew back and landed on the gound harshly. Before I could stand something hard hit me in the stomach and I heard something crack.

"Get up and fight!" She roared.

I didn't say anything I just clutched the rib that cracked. I slowly got to my feet only to get punched again and fell flat on my back.

"Fight me you fucking coward!"

Seth was trying to hold her back but she shook him off. Jasper appeared next to him and pulled him back. Alice was trying to console him. Leah straddled me and punched me with both her fists. First the left then the right.

"Are you happy now? Your vision came true you fucking idiot!"

I tried to talk but everything came out garbled because of the blood in my mouth. I placed each of my hands on each of her face and I showed her one of my visions. Last night I learned that I could show people my visions if I concetrated hard enough. It's easier if the vision involves the person I'm showing it too but it should work regardless. I just can't do it so often because it would put alot of strain on my mind. Leah gasped at the sight.

In the vision Leah was taller, her hair was passed her shoulder, and she had a little baby bump. She was rubbing her bump affectionately. She was staring in the mirror and she was smiling. The vision stopped there and I dropped my hands. Leah didn't do or say anything for a long minute. She collapsed on top of me and started sobbing. I wrapped one arm around her and I propped myself up with the other.

When I sat up straight I rubbed Leah's back.

"Was that real?" She asked. Her voice barely a whisper.

I nodded.

"So I'm not a genetic dead end?" She asked through sobs and I shook my head.

"When?" She asked and I shook my head.

"You won't tell me?" I shook my head again.

"Ca-" I tried to talk again but it hurt to damn much. I motioned for Jasper to let Seth go. Seth ran over to us and pulled Leah off of me.

"I'm sorry." She said. I shook my hand dismissively. Seth was walking her away from me and deeper into the forest. Jasper and Alice came next to me and helped me to me feet. Jasper threw one of my arms over my shoulder and we walked a lesiurely pace back to the house.

"So, are you gonna get beat again or is that it?" He asked when we got to the door. I shrugged and we went to sit on the couch.

**END FLASHBACK**

They didn't come near the house for the rest of the day. By that time Sam and Carlisle had started talking. The meeting with Sam and Carlisle went very well. Sam tried to apologize for all of this but Carlisle told him he understood his position. They both worked out whatever details needed to be worked out and when they were finished, Carlisle came to patch me up.

**FLASHBACK**

"I don't think I'll need to wire your mouth shut but I don't want you to speak for awhile." Carlise said after setting my jaw back into place. My rib actually healed and didn't need to be reset or taped up. I simply nodded my response although I could tell he had more questions for me. Alice must've seen me decide to "talk" to him because she flashed out of the room and got me a dry erase board and a pen. I raised an eye brow at her.

"Carlisle isn't the only one that's curious."

Her gaze flickered across the room and so did mine. Emmett could barely contain his curiosity. Esme would glance at me every so often. Carlisle was composed but I didn't need Edward's gift to know his brain was racked with a massive amount of questions. Even the bickering in the kitchen from Rosalie and Jacob had softened so they could listen in. I grabbed the pen and wrote:

_What would you like to know?_

"Well from what I understand, you are very gifted. How long have you been able to see what you have seen?"

_14 years._

"You had your first vision when you were 4 years old?"

_Well, if I started having them before I don't remember._

"What was your first vision?"

I took a deep breath and I heard Alice gasp.

"Thomas you don't-" She started to say but I silienced her by raising my hand. I guess she saw my answer and didn't want me to feel obligated to write anything. I took another deep breath and simply wrote:

_My father dying._

Esme gasped and Emmett frowned. Jasper looked solemn and Carlisle looked apologetic. I quickly wrote another response before he started apologizing for something that he didn't need to apologize for.

_Don't feel bad. It took me awhile to move on from it, but I'm ok with telling you this. Besides I owe all of you explanations given the recent events._

I gave him a thumbs up since I really couldn't smile. He gave me a small smile.

"How does your gift work exactly?"

I shrugged and started writing.

_I'm not sure, it just pops up out of nowhere. Now though, I just learned that I can show people my visions, but other than that I can't really tell you how it works._

"You should-"

"I already suggested that Carlise." Alice said interrupting. "I don't know when it would be a good time for him to meet Eleazar, but me and Jasper will take him sometime in the future." She looked over at me and winked.

Carlisle turned to her with a raised brow.

"How long have you know about this Alice?"

"A few days now." She said with a shrug.

"So how how did you come to know of his gift?"

"I saw him in a vision."

Carlisle's other brow shot up. Emmett and Esme carried the same expression. Jake and Rosalie had stopped talking all together to poke their heads into the room.

"But you said you couldn't see them." Carlisle said.

"I can't see the rest of them, but I can see him. The only theory we have as to why I can see him is because we have similar gifts. I see subjective futures and alot of what he has seen has been absolute."

Carlisle turned to me.

"Is that true?" He asked.

_For the most part. I believe that the only reason they were absolute, is because nothing interfered with that particular event for it to change._

"How much have you seen exactly?"

_Would you rather I show you or give you a brief summary?_

"Show me how exactly?"

_Don't move._

I put the clip board down and scooted forward on the couch. Alice was explaining what was going to happen to the others. I placed one hand on each side of his face and replayed the beginning of the baseball game they had when Bella was still human.

"Amazing." He said with a small gasp. I let go and grabbed the board.

_There's more but I'm not sure I would be able to show you all of that._

"Why?"

_I don't think I could survive the strain it would inflict on me. Although there is something that I need to tell you._

"What is it?"

_The Volturi._

His eyes widened as did the others except Jacob and Alice.

_Oh no don't worry they aren't coming here._

They relaxed and I continued.

_They will be getting your message about Bella. Aro will be delighted, Caius will be...well I guess you can guess how he'll be. Marcus will be glad that the dispute between your clan and his will be over. Something tells me it won't be over though._

"Is there more?"

I nodded.

_They decided to change one of the humans that works for them. Gianna is her name and they...killed another one of their employees because of something which in my opinion, is moronic._

"Which is?"

_Her spelling and grammar._

He frowned.

"What could she have possibly misspelled that would invoke such a reaction?"

_Your name._

"What?" He asked.

_Apparently she misspelled your name because Aro say 'Ah it's from Carlisle. Which is spelled with an Ssssweet Bianca.' After that he made two guards drag her away kicking and screaming._

"Are you sure they aren't coming here?"

_Not anytime soon at least. I think if anything you'll meet them in Italy._

"So they can see Bella?" He asked and I nodded. Edward started growling.

"She's not going there!" He snarled.

"She has to Edward, or they will come here." Alice said.

"No."

"Yes."

"Edward-"

"No!"

_Edward if she doesn't they will send someone to check. What happenes when they come across your daughter? What do you think will happen when they discover she exists?_ I thought as I narrowed my eyes towards the ceiling.

"They won't."

_Edward, stop kidding yourself, Aro knows how to get around Alice's gift. Do you honestly think that he will just let it slide because of a message? No, he won't. He'll come here himself if that's the case._

"Then I'll go with her."

_And leave Renesmee without one of her parents?_

He started growling again.

"Do you have a better idea?" He hissed.

_Yeah I do. Send Calisle with her. Aro likes him more than he does you. The only reason he really wants to get on your good side is because he wants you in his ranks._

"We'll discuss this later." He said with a sigh.

_Fine._

I could hear someone grunting and I looked over to the source. Renesmee was reaching out in my direction. Rose was a little hesitant.

"Honey he can't speak right now. Maybe later after his jaw has healed."

Renesmee frowned and started whining.

"It's fine Rose, I can translate." Edward said. Rosalie sighed and walked over to me. Jacob wasn't far behind. I put the board down so I could cradle the baby. Rose placed her in my arms and I shifted her so we could get comfy.

"Make sure you support her head." Jacob said and I rolled my eyes. _Right because I want her to be uncomfortable. Dumb ass. _I thought. Edward started snickering.

"What?" Jacob asked and I shook my head.

Renesmee patted my cheek to get my attention. I looked down at her and she smiled with a big toothy grin before she placed her hand back on my cheek. She started showing me what she seen so far. Bella on the operating table which was a little nasty. Edward saying her name as he held her. Rosalie taking her from Edward so they could sit on the couch. Jacob staring into her eyes. Jacob. Her Jacob as she liked to say. I started shaking with silent laughter when Edward started growling again. When that happened Renesmee tapped my cheek again. I looked down and she was frowning at me. I guess she didn't like me interrupting her.

_Could you tell her I'm sorry Edward? _I thought while looking up at the ceiling.

"He's sorry little one." He said.

I looked at her and she smiled again before she started showing me more of her thoughts. She's been held by all of the Cullens and my pack mates. I can't believe Leah actually smiled at her. I guess she really likes kids regardless of their parentage.

At the end of it she asked me if I liked her. I nodded and Edward confirmed it out loud.

**END FLASHBACK**

Jacob came up with a nickname Nessie for her because he thought her name was a mouthful. Everybody didn't mind it too much they thought it fit. Today Bella woke up from her transformation and about 20 minutes ago she went on her first hunt. Leah was pacing furiously and Seth was just standing there. Me and Jake were in our human forms. I was standing close to Leah and Seth, and Jake was on the Cullens front lawn his back to us. He had to do what he calls a test to check and see if Bella would be a threat to Renesmee.

In hindsight, I should've said she wouldn't be but honestly, one wrong word or motion and she could snap. I did tell them not to crowd her, make her feel nervous or irritate her.

"Don't breathe." Edward's voice came from the other side of the lawn. Jacob moved about two steps forward and crossed his arms.

"Be careful Jacob." Eward said as they came into view. Leah snarled in agreement.

"You know maybe this isn't the best way-"

"Would you rather she get close to the baby?" Jake said interrupting Edward. "It's better if I'm the test subject than her. I heal fast."

Edward shrugged.

"It's your neck dog." He said and Leah growled. Jake took a step forward and looked Bella over.

"Gotta say Bell's your a freak show." I could practically hear the smile in his voice. Bella grinned at him and Edward growled. I forgot he never saw how their relationship was.

"Watch it mongrel." He said through his teeth.

"No he has a point. The eyes are something are something huh?" Bella said trying to diffuse the tension.

"It's super creepy but it's not as bad as I thought it would be." Jake replied.

"Gee thanks for the compliment."

"You know what I mean. you still kinda look like you, I guess. I didn't think it would still feel like you were here." He chuckled before he spoke again. " Anway I'll get used to the eyes soon enough."

"You will?" She asked sounding confused.

"Thanks Edward. I didn't think you would keep it from her. You usually cave and give her what she wants."

"Maybe she'll get annoyed and rip your head off." Edward suggested. I had to fight back a growl.

Jacob snorted.

"What are you two keeping from me?" Bella demanded.

"I'll explain later." Jake said while me and the others walked slowly into view. "Let's get this show on the road."

Leah whined in protest. Jake looked over at us.

"Stay out of this guys." Jake said. We just kept moving forward as did Jake.

"Do your worse Bella." He said and Leah hissed.

"Come on Bell's I'm getting old here." He taunted. "Well not really but go on take a whiff."

"Hold on to me." Edward murmured and she leaned into his chest.

She inhaled a little and grimaced.

"Oh jeeze you stink Jacob."

Edward started laughing as did me and Seth. Emmett's booming laughter was also heard. Leah stepped back while me and Seth walked forward.

"Looks who's talking." Jacob said. Edward composed himself and whispered "I love you" into Bella's ear.

"Okay I passed. So what's the big secret?" She asked.

"Nothing you need to worry about now." Jake said nervously and Emmett chuckled. Bella looked over to the house.

"Renesmee." She whispered.

"Let's go and see her. You can handle this."

"You'll help me?"

"Of course."

"Emmett? Jasper?"

"Don't worry yourself love. We would never put her in danger. She's perfectly safe no matter what."

She took a step forward only to be blocked by Jacob. Oh joy.

"Are you sure bloodsucker? Maybe we sould wait."

"You had your test Jacob."

"But-"

"But nothing mutt. Bella want's to see our daughter now move." He said narrowing his eyes.

Jacob looked over at Bella before he bolted towards the house. Edward looked over at Bella.

"Shall we?" He asked and she nodded. They walked up to the house. Me and the others waited on the front lawn just in case.

I could hear a little bit of what was going on. She move a little too fast for their liking and they moved frantically. Edward was trying to reassure them about her ability to crontrol it but they interrupted him.

"How could you be irresponsible!" Carlisle chastened.

"I know it was stupid. I should have checked the area first."

"Edward." I heard Bella mumble.

"No he's right to rebuke me love. I made a very big mistake. Even though you're stronger than anyone I've ever met doesn't change that."

"Tasteful joke there, Edward." Alice said.

"I was trying to explain why Bella is more than capable of handling this. It's not my fault you all jumped to the wrong conclusion."

"She didn't hunt the humans?" Jasper asked incredulously.

"She started to. She was focused on the hunt."

"What happened?" Carlisle asked.

"She was in pursuit of them but she heared me approaching. She stopped to face me and when she broke her concentration, she snapped out of it. When she realized what was happening, she held her breath and ran away."

"He left out the part where I growled at him." Bella murmured and I rolled my eyes. Growling is natural for us.

"Did you get in a couple of swipes?" Emmett asked.

"No of course not!"

"You really didn't attack him?"

"No!"

"What a waste. Your the only here one that could take him. I would have paid good money to see him get knocked down."

"I would never." She declared.

"This is not natural." Jasper mumbled.

There was a pause before Bella spoke again

"Edward. Please?" She begged.

They didn't move.

"Come on Jazz. This is nothing you've seen before." Alice said quietly.

I heard him shuffle his feet along with someone else's. I guess they weren't moving fast enough because Nessie let out an ear piercing wail.

"Is she hurt?" Jacob said anxiously.

"No she's fine." Rosalie said reassuring him. "She just want's Bella."

"She wants me?" Bella whispered.

"She's been waiting for almost three days." Edward murmured.

They moved a few steps but stopped.

"I'm fine Jake." she said. I guess he moved in front of them. Nessie whimpered and I could hear Jake move. There was silence before Bella's gasp filled the room.

"What was that?" She chocked out.

"What did she show you?" Rosalie asked.

"She showed me that?"

"It's hard to explain but that's how she likes to comunicate." Edward murmured.

"What was it?" Jacob asked.

"Me I think but I looked terrible."

"It was the only memory she had of you."

"But how did she do that?"

"She's gifted."

"It's an interesting twist. It's like she's doing the opposite of what you can do." Carlise added.

There was another moment of silence.

"I remember you too." Bella said quietly.

"She's fine." Alice murmured.

"Are we done experimenting for the day? Bella's been doing fine but let's not push it." Jacob said. Shit, that's going to irritate her.

"What is your problem Jacob?" She demanded. Yep, we're in for an eventful day.

I could hear him move forward and Edward hissed.

"I may understand Jacob, but that won't stop me from throwing you out. She doing extremely well do not ruin this moment for her." He snarled.

"I help him toss you out, dog. I owe you a kick in the gut." Rosalie seethed. Damnit, I hope that if I meet Tanya anytime soon, I won't over react.

There was a pause followed by a gasp.

"No!" Bella exclaimed.

There was a lot of movement.

"Rose, take Renesmee." She said through her teeth.

"Edward let go of me, I don't want to hurt you."

Pause.

"Go stand in front of Rose and Renesmee."

There was another pause before I heard him move.

"You didn't." She snarled. I could hear Jacob heading towards us.

"It's not something I could control." He said as his figure came into view.

"You stupid mutt! How could you? And on my baby!"

He ran backwards down the front porch and we moved forward.

"It wasn't my idea!"

"I haven't even held her once and you think you have some moronic wolfy claim to her. She's mine!" She snarled.

"I can share." Was his response. Did I not say that you shouldn't irritate her?

"How dare you imprint on her? Have you lost your mind?"

"It's involuntary!" He said as he back right into me. I put both of my hands on his shoulders. Leah snapped her teeth at Bella who snarled in response. She was only a few feet away.

"Bella just listen please. All of you back up."

"No Jacob. We are not leaving you alone." I said narrowing my eye's at Bella before I gazed at Edward. _You better grab her Edward or I will not stop what will happen if she hurt's him._ I thought and he glared at me.

"Why should I listen?" She hissed.

"Because you said we belong in each other's lives. That we were family. You said that's how we were supposed to be. Now we can be. This is what you wanted."

She glared at him.

"You think that you'll be part of this family as my son in law!" She screeched. _Edward I'm not kidding. Grab her. Now._ I thought. He didn't even look at me.

"Stop her Edward. She'll be upset if she hurts him." Esme murmured. Finally, someone with some sense.

"No! It's not even like that. She's just a baby." He insisted.

"That's my point!" She yelled.

"Do you think I would be standing here if it was that way? Edward would kill me. All I want is to see her be safe and happy. Is that so different from what you want?" He yelled right back. She shrieked at him.

"Amazing isn't she." I heard Edward murmur. Great, now he talks.

"She hasn't even gone for his throat." Carlilse mused.

"For the love of god Carlisle, don't give her any ideas." I said out loud. He smiled sheepishly at me.

"You are going to stay away from her." She hissed at Jacob.

"I can't do that!"

"Try. Starting right now." She said through her teeth.

"It's not possible. Remember why you couldn't let me go? Why I couldn't let you go? That feeling is gone isn't it?"

She glared at him so he continued.

"That was her. She was holding me to you from the very beginning."

"Run away while you still can." She threatened.

"Oh c'mon-"

"Jacob don't say it." I warned trying to interrupt him but he went on.

"Nessie likes me too."

Bella froze in her place.

"What did you just call her?"

"Well that name you came up with is a mouthful-"

"You nicknamed her after the loch ness monster?" She screeched cutting him off. A second didn't go by before lunged at him.

I threw Jacob behind me so I could take the blow, but Seth zoomed passed me and blocked her.

"No Seth!" I yelled but it was too late. Her hand connected to his shoulder and I heared it break. He howled in pain before he collapsed. Leah let out a the wolf equivalent of a roar and charged forward. I crouched in front of Bella. When Leah got close enough I threw my arms around her neck. I put my legs behind me to try and slow her down. She thrashed against my hold.

"Edward get her in the house. Now!"

"Let's go love." He said and they flashed away. Now the idiot listens to me.

Leah broke away from me and swatted me with her paw. Her strike went from the middle of my left rib cage to my right hip. Her claws hurt like a bitch but I bit back a scream before I fell to the ground right next to Seth. She was snarling at me for a second before she charged towards the house.

"_**Stay right there Leah!**_" Jake said in his Alpha voice. "Go wait by the stream. **_Now!_**" He said and she reluctantly moved towards the stream. "Seth phase back." Seth whimpered a little and phased.

Carlise, Alice, and Emmett flashed over to us. Alice brought Seth a blanket.

"How you feeling?" Carlisle asked me.

"I'm fine doc just get Seth inside."

"Thomas I ca-"

"Please Carlisle just take care of him. I don't want him to stay here." I said. "Look I'll go inside too but I want Seth to be your priority." I said hoping to appease him. He frowned at me but nodded.

"Just let me heal for a minute and I'll join you."

He nodded again and helpled Seth to his feet. Alice came over to me.

"Hey pixie pire."

"Doggie." She said with a nod.

"What a day huh?"

"Yep. I'm surprised you didn't say anything to Edward."

"I did. Your mind raping brother ignored me." I growled and she hissed.

"What?"

"I told him to grab her but no, he just stayed on the damn porch."

"Idiot." She mumbled. "I think your wounds and healed. Looks like she didn't go deep enough."

I looked down and for the most part I was healed.

"I think I might actually get scars." I said.

"I happen to think scars are sexy." Alice started. "And I'm sure your soulmate won't mind." She said with a smirk and I narrowed my eyes at her.

"Not now Alice." I said proping myself up. She helped me to my feet.

"Aw c'mon she'll think it makes you look hot." She said with a grin.

"Given what just happened with Bella, we don't need to talk about this right now."

She didn't say anything else and we walked to the house.

"I'm so sorry Seth, I should have been closer." I heard Edward say. Me and Alice walked in and I headed to the couch where Carlisle was resetting Seth's arm.

"Seth I-"

"Don't worry Bella I'm fine." Seth said interrupting her.

"No one is judging you love, you're doing so well." Edward said with a smile on his face. It wasn't a smile to comfort her, it looked like he actually enjoyed what happened. To take the wind out of his sails, I thought about what happened when he left Bella all alone. He cringed when I showed him what happened.

_There is more where that came from Edward. Wipe that stupid look off of your face or I will show you the rest._ I thought.

He glared at me and I glared right back.

_Hate this situation with Jacob and Nessie all you want, it doesn't change anything. It's happened, get over it. As far as today goes, be glad I distracted Leah long enough so she wouldn't rip your wife in half._

He growled at me and I growled right back.

"Watch it-"

I growled at him so I could cut him off. I jumped to my feet and got in his face.

"What were you going to call me? Dog? Mutt? Mongrel? Not once have I called you any derogatory names and you think you can try and pull one on me? Who the hell do you think you are!"

Alice appeared in front of me to push me back. Jasper was behind me pulling by the shoulders. Emmett flanked Edward with a anxious expression. Bella looked scared and Seth was shaking his head at me.

"If you actually listened to my advice instead of being a know it all, your best friend wouldn't need to have his bones reset!" I yelled. He moved forward but Emmett grabed him.

"Are you saying this is my fault? Blame that mutt you call an Alpha!" He snarled.

"I told you to grab her not once but twice! And what did you do? Nothing!" I growled.

"It wouldn't even have happend if he didn't get in the way! All he does is get in the way!"

"Oh so he got in the way when he decided to help you out? Did we get in the way as well Mr. know it all!"

"That's enough you two." Carlisle said his tone implied that there was no room for debate. I shrugged out of Jasper's hold and went outside. I could here small foot steps behind me.

"You should stay inside Alice."

"Nope, he's getting on my nerves too so I'm going hunting." She snarled.

"Jasper?"

"He's going to watch Bella." She said in a softer tone.

I didn't say anything. I just went to go wait with Leah by the stream. She was pacing anxiously and she would look into the house every so often. She would glare at Bella or look at Seth who went to sleep after his arm was splinted.

Nothing really happened for the rest of the day and at dusk, I said goodbye to everyone except Edward and I went home. I really hope that none of them do anything stupid in the coming days.


	17. Need To Know

T.J. POV

For those days that I was at the Cullens, my mom was cool enough to cover for me with Dowling. When I went back he told me that he was laying me off. It had nothing to do with my absence, it was because business was down and he had to let people go. He didn't want to get rid of me but I told him it was fine. He said he would give me a great recommendation, but I declined.

Even though we didn't harbor any ill will towards Sam's pack, there was still a little tension. I talked to the Elders about it, to see if they were interested in helping diffuse it. They all agreed to help and were hard at work on ideas on making us a family again. Or at least talk to each other without it being akward. Funny thing about the Elders, they were actually very accepting of me having a gift. They were upset that I didn't tell anyone, but when I told them I couldn't because I had to keep it a secret, they relaxed a little.

Today though, I have to make sure Jacob doesn't die...again. I had a vision that he would let Charlie in on our secret. He did it so Bella and the others wouldn't leave. Charlie freaked out a little when he saw Jake in wolf form, but he was willing to keep an open mind.

Now, Me and the pack are walking up the front steps of the Cullens house. I was next to Jacob with my back pack, and Seth and Leah were behind us. When we went through the front door all eye's were on Jacob.

"Hey guys." He said grinning.

"Rose." Bella said with her arms out. Rosalie walked over to her and gave her Nessie. She was watching intently from Bella's arms. I wouldn't be surprised if she knew something serious was going on.

"Charlie will be here soon. I'm assuming Alice has a pair of sunglasses for you?" He said casually.

"You assume too much Jake. What have you done?" Bella said through her teeth.

Jake's smile wavered a little.

"Well I heard Emmett and Blondie going on about you guys moving away. As if I could let you leave. The biggest issue is Charlie right? Well problem solved."

"Do you realize what kinda danger you've put him in?" She hissed and Jake snorted.

"The only danger here is you. But you have some great control right?"

Edward stalked forward and I put myself between him and Jake. He glared at me.

"Move." He said.

"Make me." I ground out.

He gripped my arms and tried to pull me out of the way. I did the exact same thing. I wasn't shaking like a wolf normaly would in a situation like this, because my anger and control were in perfect harmony. My nails became claws and my strength while not the same as his, was at least enough for me to get a good grip on him. I dug my claws deep into his arms and he hissed.

In the next second he was pushed back and Alice and Jasper were right beside me. Edward was staring at them in shock.

"What are you two doing?"

"Protecting our friend." Jasper said calmly.

"And making sure you don't do anything stupid like you did when Bella woke up." Alice hissed. Edward narrowed his eyes at Alice.

"You know it wasn't my fault Alice. It was that stupid mutt, the same one that just did more harm than good!" He yelled. Me, Jasper, and Leah growled at him.

"Watch how you talk to my wife _brother_." Jasper sneered.

"Or what?" Edward snarled.

"Or me and Jasper will rip you apart and scatter your limbs across the globe!" I growled. He had the nerve to laugh at me.

"You would have to catch me first." He said darkly.

My eyes glazed over in anger.

"Stop acting like a jerk Edward. If you actually listened to the whole story you would know that this situation is easily manageable."

"How? Jacob just put Charlie in danger and now he will be subjagated to this life!" Bella yelled. The sound made Nessie jump.

"First off, Jacob didn't say anything about vampires. Secondly, you were just subjagated to this life. Do you regret it?"

"No." She hissed and Edward growled.

"Well don't bring it up then." I snapped and they both glared at me. When they didn't say anything, I continued. "As for how this is managable, well misdirection would be good. Let him see you and form his own assumptions." I said.

"Besides I provided a nice red herring if I do say so myself." Jacob added.

"Say it straight, I don't have the patience for this." Said through her teeth.

"Will there be anymore interruptions?" I said looking directly at Edward. They both shook their heads. "Do you want to tell them or should I?" I asked Jacob.

"I'll tell them." He said and he tried to move forward. I shook my head slowly.

"Say it from back there." I said and he rolled his eyes.

"Fine. T.J. is right, I didn't say anything about vampires. What I told him or showed him was stuff about me." Jake said and Edward hissed.

"You phased in front of Charlie!" He snarled.

"What?" Bella asked in shock.

"He's very brave. Braver than you. He didn't puke or pass out. I'm impressed."

"You idiot, you could have given him a heart attack!" She shreiked.

"But he didn't. Bella if I had known that he would have had a heart attack, I would have stopped Jake. Honestly, I'm impressed myself. Wait you do know what I can do right?"

She nodded once while she glared at Jake.

"Well your father is tough." I said with geniune admiration.

"If you just listen for a minute Bells, you'll see that I did you a favor." Jacob added.

"You have half of that to explain. After that I'll rip your head off and no one will stop me." She threatened and I rolled my eyes.

"Jeeze, are vampires this melodramatic when they're young or is it just you Bells?" Jake asked.

"26 seconds." She said and I started counting with my hands while rolling my eyes. Jacob moved to the next avaliable seat and we followed. Seth and Leah were tense. Leah had her teeth slightly bared at Bella.

"So I knocked on Charlie's door this morning and asked him to come for a walk with me. He was confused, but when I told him it was about you and that you were back in town, he followed me out to the woods. I told him you weren't sick anymore, and that things were a little weird, but good. He was about to take off to see you, but I told him I had to show him something first. And then I phased." He said with a shrug.

"I want every word you monster."

"You only gave him 30 seconds Swan." Leah snapped.

"Not now Leah." I said while not taking my eyes off of Bella who narrowed her's at Leah.

"Anyway," Jake started. " I phased back and got dressed. When he started breathing again, I told him that he didn't live in the the world he thought he did. I told him that nothing changed except that he knows now. Life will go on as it always has. That he could pretend that he didn't see anything."

"When he got his head together, he wanted to know what was really going on with you, with the whole rare disease thing. I told him that you had been sick, but you were fine now. It's just that you went through a change in the process of getting better. He wanted to know what I meant by change, and I told him that you looked a lot more like Esme now than you looked like Renée."

Edward hissed and I glared at him.

"After a few minutes, he asked if you could change into an animal too. I told him that you wished you were that cool."

Rosalie made a strange noise at that.

"I started to tell him more about werewolves, but I didn't even get the whole word out. Charlie cut me off and said he'd rather not know the specifics. Then he asked me if you'd known what you were getting yourself into when you married Edward. I said you've known all about this for years, since you first came to Forks. He didn't like that very much. Actually he was mad when I told him that. I let him rant about it untill he got it out of his system. After he got calmed down, he just wanted two things. He wanted to see you, and I said it would be better if he gave me a head start to explain."

He paused to let that sink in.

"Ok what was the other thing he wanted?" Bella asked.

"You'll like this. His main request is that he be told as little as possible about all of this. If it's not absolutely essential for him to know something, then keep it to yourself. Need to know, only."

"Ok I can deal with that."

"Other than that he'll pretend that things are normal."

"What did you tell him about Renesmee?" Bella asked.

"That you and Edward have another mouth to feed." He glanced at Edward. "She's your orphaned ward like Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson. I hope you didn't mind me lying. That's all part of the game right?"

Edward didn't say anything.

"Charlie was way past being shocked at this point, but he did ask if you were adopting her. His exact words were 'She's like their daughter? I'm sort of a grandfather now? I told him yes. Congrats, Gramps and all of that Jazz. He even smiled a little."

"But she's growing so fast." Bella whispered.

"I told him that she's more special than any of us put together." Jacob said softly while walking over to her. I waved Seth and Leah off when they moved forward. " I told him that if he could ignore all the strange things, he was going to be amazed. She's the most wonderful person in the whole world. I told him that if he could deal with that, you all would stick around for a while and he would have a chance to get to know her. But that if it was too much for him, you would leave. He said as long as no one forced too much information on him, he would deal."

"I can't thank you just yet. Charlie is still at risk." She said.

"I know Bells but things are better now. You're my best friend and I'll always love you. Well, in the right way. There's balance now. We both have people we can't live without."

He paused and held out his hand.

"Still friends."

She gave him a small smile before she shifted Nessie in her arms. She grabbed his hand and shook it.

"If I don't kill Charlie, I'll think about forgiving you."

"When you don't kill Charlie, you'll owe me big time." Jake said and Bella rolled her eyes.

Jake held out his hand to Nessie.

"Can I?"

"Maybe later Jacob. I'm holding her so I'm not tempted to kill you." She said.

"Yeah Jake. Nessie is keeping her calm. She'll need her to get through this visit." I said and Bella gritted her teeth when I said Nessie.

He sighed and went to go sit on the couch. Alice looked at me.

"Will everything work out?" She asked and I shrugged.

"I can't say."

"Can't say or won't say?" Jasper asked slightly concerned and slightly amused.

"Both. Given how much stupidity your brother has expressed, he deserves to sweat a little or at least the vampire equivalent of sweating, don't ya think?" I asked with an eyebrow raised and they smirked. Edward was staring at them in disbelief. I looked over at Leah.

"If you want to go Leah, you can. Just stay to the East and you won't cross paths with Charlie." I said and she shook her head.

"I'll stay here."

"Ok. You and Seth can sit with me and Alice. It will help with the charade."

"How?"

"Because we will be having a very _human_ discussion and Charlie won't think anything of it." I said with a nod.

"What kind of discussion?" She asked and Alice started bouncing up and down.

"Well, first I'm going to ask Alice if she can help me invest." The pixie in question flashed out of the room. She came back in with her laptop, a manila folder, and a small white box. "After that I wanted to do some research on abilities."

"Why?" This time it was Jake who asked.

"To try and figure out what gift Nessie has." Bella hissed but I ignored her and continued. "It's a form of projection but I don't know the specific name of it. What I do know is that she does the opposite of both her parents."

"What do you mean both of them?" Carlisle asked. I turned to address him.

"Bella has a gift as well I just don't know what. Her incredible control is one thing but she has something else. Do any of you think that she could stymie Aro and his goons when she was human simply because something was wrong with her head?" I asked and a few people chuckled including Edward.

"So what are your theories as to what she has?" Carlisle asked and I shrugged.

"I don't know but whatever it is, it's extremely powerful." I said and he nodded thoughtfully. "Well let's get into positions. Charlie will be here in about 5 minutes." I said and everyone moved about.

"You can do this love. If I thought you couldn't we would run away at this very minute. But you can and you'll be happier with Charlie around." Edward told Bella who looked like she was going to have a panic attack. Alice walked over to her and handed her the white box. Bella opened it with her free hand and in it were contact lenses.

"Those will irritate your eyes. They won't hurt but they will cloud your vision. It will be very annoying and they won't match your old eye color but hey, it's better than bright red right?"

"When did you-"

"Before you left for Isle Esme, I was prepared for any possible future." Alice said interrupting her. Bella nodded and handed Nessie to Edward so she could put the contacts in. After she put them in she blinked a few times.

"I see what you mean. How do I look?"

"Beautiful-"

"Yes, she's always looked beautiful." Alice said impatiently. "They won't be the same color as your old eyes which were much prettier, but it's the best I could come up with. They won't last forever though because of the venom, so you need to replace them in a few hours just in case Charlie stays for that long. Which will be a good thing because humans need bathroom breaks." She paused and looked at everyone of us. "We'll help out if you get stuck."

She motioned for me, Seth, and Leah to join her by the coffee table while the others were giving Bella some advice.

"So T.J. what sort of things were you interested in investing in?" Alice asked as we sat down.

"To be perfectly honest Alice I'll just go along with whatever you suggest. The only thing I ask is that I don't make too much money. Don't want to set off any red flags." I said and she nodded.

"Why are you investing?" Leah asked.

"Well given some recent information regarding how long I'll be involved with this...life, I need to make sure that I'm finacially stable. It also helps that I just got laid off."

"The old man laid you off?" Jake asked.

"Yep. He didn't want to but not to many customers have been coming in so he had to let some people go."

"Well if he would lower the prices more people would come in."

"I know but it's done with and the upside to all of this is I get more free time." I said with a shrug. "Anyway we've got 2 minutes so Bella go sit on the couch."

"Why?"

"Well because your father was under the impression that you were sick. Now that wasn't a complete lie because you were but what is he gonna think when you are standing up like nothing happened?"

She didn't say anything and went to go sit on the couch. Edward sat right next to her.

"Renesmee." He called and she looked him.

"Someone very special is coming to vist your mother. He's not like us though, or even like Jacob. We have to be very careful around him. So you cannot tell him things the way you normally tell us."

She touched his face.

"Exactly and he's going to make you thirsty. You cannot bite him because he won't heal like Jacob."

"Does she understand?" Bella asked.

"She does. She's going to be very careful right Renesmee?" He asked and she touched his face.

"No I don't care if you bite Jacob Renesmee."

A few of us chuckled at that.

"Maybe you should leave Jacob." Edward said glaring at him.

"I told Charlie I'd be here for the moral support." Jacob said.

"As far as Charlie knows, you're the most repulsive thing in exsitence."

"Watch it mind reader." I started while I narrowed my eyes at him. "It may be low for me to say this but I remember a time when you weren't exactly Charlie's favorite person either. Hmm what triggered that again? Oh yeah those 6 months you were gone." I growled. He and Bella flinched. "You owe Jacob more than you would care to give him right now. Remember that Edward, remember that." I said and I looked back at Alice and the others. Edward snapped his mouth shut.

I could hear tires coming up the damp path way that leads to the house. Bella's breathing picked up.

"You sure?" She asked.

"Yes you can do anything." Edward said and kissed her on the lips. It wasn't innocent by any means but it was hardly anything like what Emmett and Rosalie have done.

"Er it might not help to distract her right now Edward." Jasper said. Must suck to be an empath sometimes.

"Oops." Edward said as he pulled away. Bella laughed.

"Later." She said.

"Focus Bella." Jasper urged.

"Right." She said.

There was a pause before Jasper groaned.

"Bella." He warned and Emmett laughed as he took the seat closest to the T.V. He turned it on and switched the channel to a college football game.

Charlie's cruiser was getting closer so I spoke again.

"Hey Alice I brought some money with me so you can do whatever." I said pulling an envelope out of my back pack. I handed it to her and she opened it.

"How much is that?" Seth asked.

"Close to 3 grand."

"How do you have 3 thousand dollars in cash? Did you rob a bank?"

"If I robbed a bank, don't ya think I would have stolen more money?" I asked with an eye roll. "To be serious though, I've saved up all of my birthday money and such. It also helped to have a part time job." I said and he nodded.

"Is this all of it?" Alice asked and I shook my head.

"I have more at my house."

"Where were you when I needed parts for my Rabbit?" Jake asked and I laughed.

"Who said I would have helped anyway?" I asked and he pouted.

"You wouldn't have helped a member of your family in their time of need?" He said with his best puppy dog look. I rolled my eyes.

"Oh shut it Jake you act as if it was difficult to get the things you needed." I shook my head and looked through my bag again. I pulled out my journal that I wrote every vision I've had thus far in. I handed it to Alice.

"I figured you would be interested in reading this. It's how I would keep track of things I saw. You and Carlisle can give it back when you're done." I said with a grin and she grinned back.

"Thanks." She said and I nodded. "Do you mind if I use your laptop?" I asked.

"Of course not. Here ya go." She said handing it to me. I opened up an internet browser just as Charlie's cruiser pulled up in the front. The car idled for a few seconds before the engine was cut off. A door slammed and Charlie made his way to the front door. When he got to the door he took two deep breaths and knocked three times.

Carlise walked over to the door and answered it.

"Hello Charlie." He said.

"Carlisle. Where's Bella?"

"Right here Dad." She said. I forgot to give her pointers on her voice because she sounds off.

Charlie came into the room and he looked at Bella with wide eyes.

"Is that really you Bella?" He whispered.

"Yep. Hi dad." She made a face when she said yep but I don't think anyone other than the supernatural beings in the room noticed.

"Hey Charlie, how are things?" Jake asked from the couch. Charlie glowered at him before shuddering at the memory.

Charlie walked closer to the couch until he was a few feet away from Bella. He shot a glare towards Edward and I couldn't keep the smile off my face. Oh I hope he thought of something deadly.

"Bella?" He asked again sounding weary. I typed in the words "Supernatural/Superhuman Abilities" in the search engine and multiple sites popped up. Most of it was comic book sites or wikipedia entries. According to the information from the comic book sites, some powers could be interesting. I learned that the proper title of my gift and Alice's is called precognition. Edward has one way Telepathy. True telepaths can read minds as well as enter them to communicate. I guess everyone should be happy that he can only read their thoughts and not enter their minds. Not that he would especially on Emmett whose mind is probably less mature than most of the pack.

Eleazar would be either Ability identification or Ability sensory. I could quickly identify most of the gifts I know about like Pain illusion, Sensory deprivation, Sensory location, Physical repulsion, but the one that really piqued my intrest was Tactile telepathy. The entry read:

**Those who posses this ability are able to delve in to the mind of those they touch. The longer the connection, the deeper they can go.**

_Just like Aro._ I thought.

I opened another tab so I could look up the word Tactile. If it means what I think it does then I may have found out part of Nessie's gift. The definition read:

**of, relating to, or being the sense of touch.**

Ah so it involves physcial contact. I looked back at the website to see if anything fit. The only forms of Projection they had were Visual Projection and Astral Projection. Both were interesting but not what I was looking for. Hmm. Maybe we could call it Tactile thought projection? It has a ring to it. I got up out of my seat so I could show the others at the table what I found.

"Jacob was telling you the truth." I heard Bella say.

"That makes one of you." Charlie growled. I must admit it was an impressive growl. Well, from a human at least.

When I went on Seth and Leah's side of the table, Charlie spoke again.

"Oh is this her? The orphan your adopting?"

"My niece." Edward said.

"I thought you lost your family." Charlie said in an accusatory tone.

"I lost my parents but I had an older brother named Richard. He was adopted before me and I kept in contact with him from time to time. He and his wife were involved in an accident that claimed their lives." He paused so he could act like this information brought him sorrow. "When me and Bella were on our honeymoon, the courts contacted Carlisle who told me about it. We would have taken her sooner, but Bella got sick and we couldn't risk the child getting sick either so we had to wait."

"Well she's a beauty." Charlie said.

"Yes." Edward agreed.

"But you two just got started. Are you sure you're up for the resposibility?"

"What else could I do? I'm the only family she has. Besides could you deny her?"

"I guess not. Jake tells me you guys call her Nessie."

"No we don't. Her name is Renesmee." Bella cut in with a sharp tone. I rolled my eyes. _Get over it._ I said silently.

"How do you feel about this Bells? Maybe Carlisle and Esme could-"

"She's mine." Bella said interrupting him. "I want her."

"Your going to make me a grandfather so young?" Charlie said.

"Carlisle is a grandfather now as well." Edward added.

"I guess that does make me feel better."

There was a pause.

"She sure is something to look at."

Another pause. I was going to say something but I heard Charlie gasp. I looked over at him and he was looking at Nessie. He was mouthing numbers. I guess he was trying to count 9 months and make them fit into the past month. Crap.

Thankfully, Jake walked over to him and whispered "Need to know Charlie, need to know. It will be alright I promise." He said and Charlie nodded. Charlie took in a deep breath before he clenched his fists and took a step closer to Edward.

"I don't want or need to know everything, but I am done with the lies!" He roared and my eyebrows shot up.

"I'm sorry, but you need to know the public story more than you need to know the truth. If you're going to be part of this secret, the public story is the one that counts. It's to protect Bella and Renesmee as well as the rest of us. Can you go along with the lies for them?" Edward said calmly.

Charlie huffed and glared at Bella.

"You could have given me some warning here, Bells."

"Would it have been any easier if I did?" She asked.

Charlie frowned at her and knelt down by her. Nessie smiled at him and his eyes widened.

"Whoa, how old is she?" He asked.

"Three months or rather, she's the size of a three month-old, more or less. She's younger in some ways, more mature in others." Edward answered.

Jake elbowed Charlie.

"Told ya she was special didn't I?"

Charlie didn't say anything and just cringed away from the contact.

"Aw c'mon Charlie don't be like that. I'm still the same person just with a little something more. If it helps, pretend this afternoon didn't happen." Jake said.

Charlie nodded once before he spoke.

"What is your part in this Jake? How much does Billy know? Why are you here?" He said and his gaze flickered to us. "Why are all of you here?" He asked eyeballing me, Seth, and Leah.

"Well I can't speak for Jake because he's not apart of this project I'm developing," I started. "But Alice has been kind enough to lend her designing skills so she can make everything all pretty and such." I grinned at Alice who smiled. "Seth is one of my creative consultants. Kids got a very active imagination and it's something that is very useful." I patted Seth's shoulder and he smirked. "Leah is a fine writer and she can paint a very vivid picture with her words." I looked at Leah who gave me a small smile. It was true, if she went to college, English would have been her major. "As for me well I'm just a man with a vision." I said beaming. I heard a few chuckles that no human could hear.

"Oh ok it's just weird that all of you are here." Charlie said and I frowned.

"Why is that?" I asked.

"Well your tribe hasn't been exactly...kind towards the Cullens. It's just strange that the younger members of said tribe would be hanging out here." He said and I gritted my teeth.

"Well maybe it's a generational thing. The older generation can't let go of old superstitions while us young bucks actually know the difference between good people," I glanced at all the Cullens. "And the monsters that we love so much to talk about in our legends." I said. It took everything in me not to growl at the end.

"You've got a point I never understood all of that. Although I wouldn't call everyone in this room good." He said glaring at Edward who had the decency to hang his head.

"As much as he annoys me with his massive ego, at the the end of the day, Edward does mean well. Even if his decisions aren't in the best interest of others." I said and Charlie huffed again.

"Woo! Go Gators!" Emmett boomed.

"Florida winning?" Charlie asked after he jumped at the sound.

"Yep just scored the first touchdown." He glanced breifly at Bella."About time someone got some action around here. Don't know how they'll do without Tebow, but I'm sure they'll manage."

"Did you hear about him getting first draft pick for the Broncos?" Seth asked.

"Yeah good for him. Hopefully he does well if gets to play." Emmett said with a nod.

"Until he gets stomped by Tom Brady and the Patriots." I added.

"You like the Patriots?" Seth asked and I shrugged.

"Even though I grew up here I like teams from other parts of the country. It's not just the Pats is the Saints as well."

"Really?"

"Yeah I always wanted to go to The Big Easy, and Drew Brees is good." I said. Seth shrugged and Emmett nodded.

Charlie sighed and sat in the chair next to Emmett.

"Let's hope they can hold the lead." He said.

The game ended about an hour and a half later. Charlie was headed to the door with Bella right behind him.

"I'm not sure if we should tell your mom about any of this?" He said when he was close to the door.

"You guys should go with him." I told Seth and Leah. They both just stared at me.

"Go home and spend time with your mom I mean. She must be irritated that you guys left today and came here." Seth shrugged but Leah's gaze flickered between me and Edward.

"He won't touch me." I said firmly. She didn't buy it so I continued. "Even _if_ he _tries_ to do so, I'll see and smell him coming. Besides I've got two friends here who would be more than happy to watch my back." I glanced at Alice with a grin and she winked at me. I set a wave of appreciation towards Jasper who nodded at me.

Leah cracked a small smile at both of them and nodded her thanks. Seth got up and walked to the door.

"Come on Charlie Nessie will be here tomorrow. Don't wanna keep my mom waiting now do you?"

Charlie didn't say anything but let Seth go out. Leah just sat in her chair and I raised an eyebrow.

"I waiting for her to move out of the way." She said jerking her chin towards Bella. I nodded and Edward let out a small hiss. I guess Leah was thinking about doing something unpleasant.

_Shut it you big dummy. Charlie is still here._ I thought as I narrowed my eyes at him. He looked at me and nodded.

"She's sturdy. Sturdy is good." Charlie said when he took Nessie into his arms. "She's the prettiest baby I ever saw including you."

"I know dad I know." Bella muttered. After a second Charlie's stomach growled.

"Go eat Dad we'll still be here."

"I'll see you tomorrow Bells." He said handing Nessie to her ."Bye Ness." he said and Bella let out a small groan.

"Hey Charlie wait up." Leah called and he turned his attention to her. "Mind if I ride with you?" She asked.

"No it's fine."

"One condition though."

"What's that?"

"Make Seth sit in the back." She said and Charlie laughed.

"That can be arranged."

She got up from her chair and Bella gave her a wide berth when she got close.

"You boys coming?" He said looking at me and Jake.

"No I was hoping to stay for a little while longer." I glanced at Carlisle. "If that's alright with you and Esme."

"It's fine." He said with a warm smile.

"I'm staying." Jake said and Charlie nodded looking relieved that Jake was staying.

Charlie went out and headed to his cruiser. It was quiet for a few moments save for Seth's grumbling. Charlie turned the engine on and started to pull away from the house.

"I did it!" Bella exclaimed and Edward wrapped his arms around her.

"You were unbelievable." He said

"I'm not even sure she's a real vampire. She's too tame." Emmett said and Bella snarled.

"Ooo scary." He laughed and she hissed.

"Bella?" I said and she looked at me. I shot a glance at Nessie. Bella followed my gaze and she calmed down.

"Not the smartest thing you could have done Emmett." I said and he frowned.

"Huh?"

"You irritated the strongest vampire in the house." I said grinning at Edward and Bella. Edward grinned back but Bella was confused.

"Ha! As if." Emmett said snorting.

"Bella, do you remember what I asked you to do when you became immortal?" Edward asked.

"Oh!" She gasped as she realized what he was thinking about. Alice started laughing and Jacob poked his head in from the kitchen with his mouth full of food. When did he go in there?

"Are you sure?" She asked.

"Positive." He said reaching for Nessie. She handed her to him.

"How do you feel about making a wager Emmett?" She asked and he jumped to his feet.

"Bring it." She bit her lip.

"Unless you're scared." He taunted.

"You. Me. Arm wrestling. Now." She said squaring her shoulders.

"Right this way Bella." He said leading her to the garage. When he got there he put the radio on to some classic rock station. Edward, Jacob, and Rosalie started following but Alice, Jasper, Esme, and Carlisle stayed behind. I looked over at Carlisle.

"Carlisle." I called and he looked at me.

"I just thought you should know that I figured out part of her gift." I said and he raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? What is it?"

"Well I kinda made up the name because they didn't have an entry for this particular gift." I said and he nodded for me to continue.

"Well I call it Tactile thought projection. I call it that because she has to touch someone in order to use her gift."

"How did you come up with the name?"

"Well there was one particular gift that was sort of similar. One you know about actually."

"I do?"

"Yes it's...Aro's. His is called Tactile telepathy. The description of this gift fits perfectly with what I've seen him do. All the other gifts I know of are there too except Nessie's hence the need for me to make it up." I said and he looked thoughtful.

"Was there anything else that was similar?" He asked.

"Yeah there was Visual projecton. It involves you sending images into someone's mind just by looking at them. I don't know anyone that has that though." I said.

"I do." He said and I raised an eyebrow.

"When I travled in the Amazon with my family some time ago, we came across a coven of vampires. There were three of them and they were very...wild."

"How so?" I asked.

"They were wild...in everything. They didn't wear clothes, they wore animal fur. They wouldn't have fit in everyday society but they were very kind. Anyway I'm getting off track. One of the members of this coven has that gift and her name is Zafrina. She can be intimidating but she can be soft as well."

"I see."

"Have you figured out what Bella might have?" He asked and I shook my head.

"Didn't get that far into my research."

"Again!" Emmett roared from the Garage and I smiled.

"Seems some one got ahead of themselves." I said and everyone in the room chuckled.

"Sorry I couldn't be of more help." I said and he shook his head slowly.

"You did extremely well. You actually came up with something that none of us could have suggested. And that's not even your gift." He said with a grin.

"Thank you."

"You should consider on becoming a writer." Alice said out of nowhere without looking up from my journal. "Your writing is very good."

"Uh thanks."

"I'm serious this is very detailed."

"Well my visions are very detailed. It was hard to get everything in there at first but I'm glad I did over time."

"Well with the recent discovery you made with your gift, I'm sure you won't have to take notes so much. Speaking of recent discovery, what did you discover that made you want to invest?" Carlise asked and I froze.

"Yeah Private, what did you discover recently?" Jasper asked with a knowing smile and I glared at him. I wasn't ready to talk about this.

"Uh nothing really." I said hoping that they would drop it because of how I felt. I have no such luck.

"Nothing? I'm sure finding your other half is considered something." Alice, the little pixie witch added. I glared at her too. Carlise raised an eyebrow at her and Esme was smiling at me.

"Traitors." I mumbled.

"What? Everyone will find out anyway. At least this way I can get your input for your wedding without anyone questioning us." Alice said I stared at her in shock.

"Wait, hold up, who said that was gonna happen anytime soon?" I all but growled.

"Oh please. It _will_ happen and I _will_ plan it." She said fiercely.

"Can we not talk about this? Especially when my Alpha is not so far away." I groaned.

"Will he be mad? I hope not because that would sort of be hypocritcal of him." Jasper said sternly and I shook my head.

"No he'll be happy that I've found my soulmate. He'll be a little wary because she's a vampire, but he'll be happy."

"Your soulmate is a vampire?" Carlise asked and I sighed.

"Yeah, she's family to you." I said.

"Who?" He asked.

"Tanya. Wait does she have a last name?" I asked.

"Every member of the Alaskan coven has taken Denali as their surname." Japser said.

"Denali?"

"Yes, they live near the Denali National Park. Well, their house is up the moutain but they can be in the park in less than a minute."

"Good sport I'm guessing?"

"Oh yes." Carlisle added.

"I probably shouldn't ask this, but what is she like?"

"Tanya can be very forward at times." Carlisle started and I frowned. "But she can be very sweet as well. I think her forwardness can be attributed to the fact that she's been around for a very long time and she's very lonely." He said quickly when he noticed my expression. The others nodded in agreement.

"How long?"

"Over a thousand years." Carlisle said and I frowned even more. A thousand years? I couldn't imagine living that long and not finding my soulmate.

"But I'm sure she'll be happy now that she has you." Alice said and I smiled a little.

"Who will be happy now that she has you?" Jake asked coming into the room.

"No one." I said as I went to gather my things. "You'll let me know about the progress of my investment?" I asked Alice and she nodded.

"Thanks you're a doll." I said with a grin.

"I thought I was a pixie." She said seriously and I rolled my eyes. I turned to Jasper.

"Major I was wondering if you were free tomorrow afternoon?"

"Sure. What's on your mind?"

"Just wanted some advice and training for a thought that just occured to me?"

"Which is?" He asked and I shook my head.

"Tomorrow." I said and he nodded. I turned to Jake.

"Are you going home or are you going to face the wrath of the mind reader?"

"I'm headed out too. I promised my dad I would help him get things ready for this weekend."

"What's happening this weekened?" Alice asked.

"We're trying to reconcile the packs. It shouldn't be too difficult but it will be tense." I said with a sigh.

They all nodded in understanding and me and Jake left the house.


	18. An Understanding

T.J. POV

Jacob tried to get me too spill about who me and Alice were talking about. I didn't budge. I told him we would deal with it when the time came. When he asked when that would be I just shrugged.

"Honestly bro it involves me so don't worry yourself." I told him.

"Now you gave me a reason to worry by telling me that." He said frowning and I rolled my eyes.

"Just drop it Jake."

"Is it bad?"

"Depends on how you look at it."

"That's not really helpful."

"Please Jake just drop it. I'm trying to focus on the next few days." I said with a sigh.

"I don't think this meeting will be so bad. Unless you saw something go down." He said raising an eyebrow. I shook my head. It was weird how accepting he was of me having this gift but then again his head is alot clearer than it's been in awhile.

"No. It will just be extremely tense. I'm glad Jasper's not allowed to come because he would be in pain but then again, he could calm everyone down." I said and he nodded.

"Yeah that would suck. Speaking of him, how did you two get so close?" He asked.

"It started with Alice. She was happy to know that there was someone out there that was like her. Well not exactly like her but someone with a similar gift. He's always happy when she's happy. Another part of it would be my control over my emotions. He's never seen anyone, vampire, wolf, or human excercise such control. And I think in some small way, I remind him of himself."

"How so?"

"Oh that's right you don't know his story. Well when he and I spoke the second time he told me that if I had aspirations to join the military, that I would've mad a great soldier. He said I would have risen up in the ranks quickly, just like he did in the civil war."

"Wait he was in the civil war?" Jake asked with wide eyes and I nodded.

"Yeah he was the youngest Major in the Texas calvary. And all with out seeing any battle." I said with a smile.

"How did you - Oh you saw him tell his story?" He asked and I nodded.

"Yeah and it's not a pleasant one. I don't think it's right for me to tell you, so if you wanna know, you should ask him sometime." I said.

"Sure."

"So what's the story with you and Rosalie?" I asked and he shrugged.

"Nothing really, I just like pissing her off."

"I'm sure you do."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing." I said and he raised an eyebrow so I continued. "It's just if she wasn't with Emmett and if you weren't bound to Nessie, I'm sure you two would've fucked each other's brains out." I joked and he scowled.

"I don't even think of things like that anymore. And even if I did I wouldn't dream of touching that...thing." He said shaking his head in disgust. I rolled my eyes.

"It was a joke calm down"

"No, it was a sick joke. One not worth repeating."

"Alright alright. Calm down."

We didn't say much after that. I had sometime to kill so I went to his house. When we got there, Billy was in the front front and I could hear Paul in the house with Rachel. I groaned inwardly. Did he really need to be here?

"Hey boys." Billy greeted.

"Hey dad." Jake said.

"Uncle Billy." I said with a nod.

"So how are you two feeling about this weekend?"

Me and Jake looked at each other and shrugged.

"Whatever happens, happens." Jake said and I nodded in agreement.

"It's not gonna be that bad. They're sorry about this." Billy said with a sigh.

"We know that Billy, in all honesty a part of me wishes things could be the same, but it can't and maybe that's a good thing." I said.

"How?" He asked with an eyebrow raised.

"We were getting to big Billy. Numbers wise I mean. Us splitting like this actually takes away some of the stress. It adds more now mind you but at least we won't have some many people on one connection. Good thing we won't be in his head anymore huh?" I asked Jake while jerking my head towards the house.

"Yeah I don't think I could take it if he thought about..." He trailed off and shuddered. I groaned inwardly again because I knew what he was talking about. He wouldn't be able to handle Paul's thoughts about Rachel when they got...physical.

Inside I heard Paul trying to get Rachel to stay with him.

"Babe please just stay with me."

"No. I haven't seen my cousin in awhile all because of some stupid feud. I want to talk to him."

"Babe you'll see him at the meeting on Saturday."

"I'm going out there right now Paul. Do not take this away from me." She said in a tone that made it clear that this discussion was over. I heard him sigh and I could hear them approaching. Rachel opened the door and smiled at me.

"Thomas." She said.

"Hey cousin, what's shaking?" asked and I saw Paul right behind her. His hands were trembling so I added "Besides your guard dog?"

She turned around and looked at Paul.

"He's not going to hurt me Paul." She said rolling her eyes. She walked past her dad and came to pull me into a hug. Paul moved right next to Billy.

"I missed you." She said.

"I missed you too cos." I said and I saw Paul stop trembling but he narrowed his eyes at me.

"Problem Lahote?" I said as I pulled away from Rachel.

"That depends." He sneered.

"On what?" I asked glaring at him.

"You gonna run and protect those leeches at the first sign of trouble?" He snarled and I pulled my lips back over my teeth.

"What's it to you?" I growled and he shrugged indifferently.

"I guess it would make sense for the freak in our family to follow another set of freaks. Maybe you and that little pixie bitch-"

He didn't get to finish that sentence because I stalked past Rachel and lunged at him. He tried to avoid me but I wrapped my left hand around his throat and got a good grip on him. He kept hitting me but nothing worked. I was about 7 inches taller than he was so I pulled him off the ground and pulled him closer to me.

"Let me make one thing perfectly clear, you will _not_ disrespect the Cullens in front of me. If you want to talk shit about my gift or me that's all well and good but they are off limits. If I catch you talking about them like that, those scenarios that I told you on the beach will become a reality!" I roared and he was staring at me wide eyed.

"Teej he's not worth it." I heard Jake say. I'm sure he if he didn't find his soulmate, I would have to fight him to get to Paul. But he was right, he wasn't worth it. I growled in Paul's face before I threw him back in the house. It's a good thing that the door was still open otherwise it would've been in splinters.

"Billy, Rachel," I started as I looked at them. "I'm sorry about that. I didn't mean to go off the handle." I said.

"It wasn't your fault." Billy said shaking his head.

"Don't worry about it and just so you know Paul," She said looking into the house. "I'm cutting you off from-"

"Oh god Rachel tell me you haven't!" Jake said interrupting her.

"Haven't what?" She asked frowning.

"You know." Jake mumbled looking down at the ground.

"No I don't."

"He thinks you two have connected." I said. She frowned even more so I added. "Physically." I meshed my hands together after I said that.

Her eyes were the size of saucers as realization hit her and she exclaimed.

"Oh my god, how could you think I would do that!" She yelled at Jacob who flinched. "He's not even of age and we've barely even kissed!"

"Well then what were you going to cut him off from?" He asked.

"The food in the house!"

"Oh." Was all he could say. Rachel just shook her head and muttered things like"Jackass" or "Moron".

"Well as fun as this has been, I'm gonna head home." I shook Billy's hand, kissed Rachel's cheek and hugged Jake.

Nothing really happened for the rest of the day but that night, I had a vision.

I was in a dark alley. A small hooded figure stepped towards a street that I didn't recognize.

"Gianna." The figure called. Wait, she sounds familiar.

Gianna came out of the shadows and stepped closer to the figure.

"Jane." She said with a nod. Oh shit.

"How would you like the opportunity to please our masters and potentially join the guard? I mean your gift is too weak to actually earn you a spot through trial and error, but you could at least be given some sort of honor." Jane said as she pulled her hood down. How someone that angelic looking could be so sadistic is beyond me.

Gianna's face lit up like she just got the best christmas present ever.

"Oh of course Jane I would love too! What do I need to do?"

Jane pulled a note out of her cloak and handed it to Gianna.

"I need you to go to our hangar in Florence, board one of our planes, and head to New york. When you get there, follow those instructions exactly. Once those tasks have been complete, call me and I will send someone to get all of you."

"I am not doing this alone?" Gianna asked curiously. Jane shook her head.

"No. Afton and Ivan will be going with you."

"Oh well that's good."

"I don't think I need to tell you what would happen should you fail do I?" Jane asked while narrowing her eyes.

"No I know what will happen." Gianna said looking uncomfortable.

"Good. Then be quick about getting that done. Buona fortuna." Jane said as she put her hood back on and walked away.

"I will and Ti ringrazio!" Gianna said.

"Di niente!" Was Jane's reply.

The vision ended there and I woke up covered in sweat. What was the point of that? Is she coming here? All these questions whirling around in my mind and I can make no sense of it. When I go to the Cullens place tomorrow, maybe they'll have an idea of what's going on.

~~~~~~~THE NEXT DAY~~~~~~~

JASPER POV

I was reading one of my old civil war novels when I heard a motorcycle on the path that leads to the house. I walked over to the window and saw Thomas on a Black Norton Commando. Where did he get that? I flashed out of the room and on to the front porch.

He slowed down when he saw me and let the engine idle for a bit before he shut the bike off.

"Hey Major."

"Private." I said with a nod. "Nice bike you got there."

"Thanks." He said grinning.

"Where did you get it?"

"It was my dad's." He said with a small smile. "He kept it in our shed and my mom let me have it for my birthday present."

"Ah. It's in great condition. I'm a Harley man myself but I can appreciate quality when I see it. So what were you going to tell me yesterday?"

"Before we do that, is Carlisle or Edward here?" He asked. I could feel a small wave of trepidation come off of him, but it quickly vanished.

"Edward and Bella will be here soon as will Carlisle. What's going on Private?"

"I don't really know. I had a vision last night. It was something that didn't involve any of us but it's still making me uneasy."

"What was it?" I asked and he described it in detail.

"I don't know what I can tell you. There's always rumors of certain guard members using the lower ranked members or the vampires without powers that work there to run errands for them."

"I guess Aro doesn't mind that much then?" He asked and I shook my head.

"I don't think so. As long as it doesn't draw too much attention then he doesn't care."

"Huh." Was all he said.

"It could be nothing." I said.

"Maybe."

"Let's get inside so we can talk." I suggested and he nodded. He got off his bike and walked towards the house.

"So what did you want to talk about?" I asked again.

"Do you remember when I clawed your brother?" He asked and I chuckled.

"Yes I was going to ask you how you did that."

"What emotion did you feel come off of me?"

"Anger but it wasn't as much as I would normally get from one of the other wolves. What were you thinking?"

"Well I knew it could get bad but I didn't want to phase in the house."

"Why?"

"I didn't want to ruin any of Esme's things. You and Emmett do it on a regular basis and I would hate to be in the same boat as you two when she gets upset." He teased and I nodded. Even though Esme rarely got angry, when she did, no one wanted to face her wrath.

"And I didn't want to dismantle Edward in front of Nessie and Bella." He added as we walked inside the house.

"Yeah I don't think they would've liked that very much."

"Well Bella I could deal with to be honest it's Nessie I would've had trouble with." He said as he went to go sit on the couch. I sat in the chair across from him. "Where's everyone else?"

"Alice and Rose went shopping."

"Of course." He said with a smile.

"Esme went to get more food. Carlisle is catching up on some work at the hospital. Emmett's out back doing god knows what. And Bella and Edward are at their cottage with Nessie." I said and he nodded. "Why would you have had more trouble with Nessie seeing you fight Edward than Bella?"

"Bella would have tried to kill me if I hurt him. _That_ I could deal with. Nessie would have been hard to deal with because I know what it's like to see a parent get hurt." He paused to close his eyes for a moment. "Mind you, they're very different scenarios, but no one, especially a child, should have to see someone they love get hurt." He said and I nodded.

"So what is this all leading up to?" I asked trying to steer this conversation back to the main point.

"Well I was hoping to develop a new technique for the rest of the wolves. Breathing tecniques only work for so long but I think with this, I could help out the rest."

"I'm not exactly sure I'm following here private."

"Some of the wolves have mortal imprints. The imprinting bond doesn't affect the age of the imprint so that means the wolves will have to start aging again. They can't do that if they don't stop phasing."

"Do alot of them have trouble controling their anger?" I asked still unsure of where this was going.

"Well, a good chunk of us are actually good at phasing on instinct and don't need much incentive to do so."

"Like who?"

"Sam, Jared, Collin, Brady, and Seth. So two senior members and three younger members. Me, Embry, Quil, and Jacob can do it too but I'm not counting us."

"Why's that?"

"Well you and I both know I'm not going anywhere anytime soon." He smirked before he continued. "Quil does have an imprint but it will be awhile before she's old enough to start anything with him. Well if she want's too. Embry doesn't have an imprint at all so I don't need to worry about him retiring just yet, although it would be nice for him to have a way out if it does happen. And Jake...well he's not going anywhere either."

"So if I understand this correctly, you think that you can develop a way to help your family retire from their immortality, all because of what happened yesterday?"

"That is correct." He said.

"How?"

"Well if we have trouble calming down we usually take deep breaths and try to to think of things that make us happy. Sometimes it's just not enough though. I think with this, we could be able to stop mid transformation and eventually stop all together."

"So where do I come in?"

"Well you'll sort of act like an emotion meter/instigator. You'll try and rile me up while at the same time making sure I maintain that same level of anger you felt yesterday."

I didn't get a chance to respond because Emmett came back into the room.

"Mind if I tag along?" He asked. I looked over at Thomas and he shrugged.

"What are you gonna do Em?" I asked.

"Just watch and toss out any ideas that might help."

"I don't mind you watching but what ideas could you possibly have?" I said.

"I do have a brain you know." He grumbled and Thomas chuckled.

"What's so funny?" Emmett asked.

"I'm sure you have a brain but it must not be that big. I mean, how else would you explain that rattling sound that happens everytime you move your head?" He teased and I laughed.

"At least I don't smell like a dog." Emmett spat.

"Yeah, because smelling like cotton candy is so much better." Thomas said with an eyeroll.

Emmett didn't say anything because we could hear a car pull up the drive way and into the garage.

"Is that Carlise or the girls?" Thomas asked.

"It's us!" Alice annouced. I got up out of my seat and headed to the garage. I could hear Emmett and Thomas follow.

"Need any help darlin'?" I asked when I entered the garage.

"No thanks Jazzy we've got it." Alice said as she came out from the back of the car. I moved out of the way so they could walk past me. Her and Rose had at least 10 bags on each arm as they walked back in the house.

"What's this? Light shopping today ladies?" I heard Thomas quip which he followed up with a chuckle.

"Real mature there pixie."

I came back in and only the guys were in the room.

"They'll be down in a second." Thomas said and both Rose and Alice flashed into the room. Rose went to sit next to Emmett on the couch.

"So what's up?" Alice asked Thomas at the same time I went to stand next to her.

"Just asking for Jasper's advice on somethings." Was his answer.

"Is that all?" She asked eyeing both me and him suspiciously. Thomas looked at me with a raised eyebrow and I nodded once.

"I had a vision last night, one that I can't make sense of."

"What was it?" She asked and he held his hand out.

"Might be better if I showed you." He said. Why didn't he do this with me?

"I didn't want to take a chance and have you disoriented." He said looking at me. "And no I can't read minds I just had a feeling you might ask." He added when I started to open my mouth. "I mean it's going to feel off just getting this feeling from someone else, who knows what could happen if I did it to you. Besides, if something happened to you, Alice would skin me alive. And the last thing I want is to end up being a fur coat for some hoity toity designer." He teased and Alice stuck her tounge out at him.

Alice took his hand in hers. Or rather, he took her hand in his considering she could fit both of her hands in one of his. He grasped it and furrowed his brow. After 5 seconds he spoke.

"Anything?"

"No." She said.

He grasped her hand with both of his this time.

"How bout now?"

"No. Just do it the way you've been doing it before."

"I was hoping I wouldn't have to."

"Why?"

"I just figured if I could just touch someone's hand instead of their face, it wouldn't be so conspicuous." He said with a shrug.

"Just show me." Alice said impatiently and Thomas rolled his eyes.

He moved forward and placed his hands on either side of her face.

"Don't move." He said and his his glazed over. This was similar to the feeling I normally get when Alice has a vision, but since both of them where watching this vision, the feeling doubled. After 15 seconds he pulled away from her.

"Hmm don't know what to tell you. There's always whispers of the guard members doing things like this."

"I know, Jasper told me. I have no idea why I got this vision but there must be a reason."

"I'll keep a look out on her deci-"

"It won't work Alice." He said interrupting her.

"Why's that?" I asked.

"You heard what was said, she's not going alone. I have a funny feeling Afton and Ivan will be deciding on what task she has to do. I would just write it off if Alice or me could watch them but I have no idea what either of them look like. Do you?" He asked both me and Alice. We both shook our heads and he sighed.

"Well there's not much we can do about that then. Wanna get started on our technique?" He asked turning to me and I nodded.

"We'll be right back darlin'." I told Alice as I kissed her cheek. Me and Thomas shuffled out of the room and into the backyard.

"I think the best way to begin would be for you to stand about 10 paces away from me."

"Just in case I lose it?" He asked and I nodded.

"I'm not expecting you to, but better safe than sorry."

He walked 10 paces out, kicked off his shoes and took of his shirt.

"Don't really wanna waste any of my clohtes. Been doing a good job so far, don't wanna jinx it." He said and I nodded.

I was impressed with his massive frame. If he every became a vampire just his size alone would have guaranteed him to be a deadly opponent. Well amongst those who had no fighting experience. If he ever learned fighting techniques from some of the best teachers in the world, no one could take him in hand to hand combat. Hmm. Maybe I should teach him a few tricks.

"I guess the obvious thing to ask is what makes you angry?"

"Nothing really." He said.

"Ok well I'll project some anger to you and you try to hold back." I said and he nodded.

I sent him a low wave of anger and he tensed up a little. He shrugged it off and shook his head.

"Try going higher major." He suggested and I did.

He tensed up again but after a moment he set himself into a crouch. The nails on his feet and hands became claws. His eyes went from green to amber in an instant. I'll have to ask him about that. He started shaking and he looked like he was going to pass out. He dropped to his knees and cried out.

I tried to pull back on the anger but he shook his head.

"Don't Major. I've got it!" He snarled and I got a good look at his teeth. Only they weren't human teeth but wolf fangs. He kept shaking but after a minute his shaking slowed down and he started to stand. When he stood up right he still had amber eyes and claws.

"How am I now?" He asked in a deep tenor voice. I guess that's because of the fangs.

"You're at the perfect mix of anger and happiness." I said and he nodded.

"How do I look?" He asked. He was trying to hold on to the anger.

"Different. Your eyes are amber now."

"Amber?"

"Does that have any significance?" I asked and he nodded.

"That's the eye color that my wolf form has." He said.

He looked at his hands and feet. Then he felt his teeth with his palm beause he didn't want to claw his face.

"It's like me and my wolf are one." He mused and I felt his anger diminish. His claws retracted along with his fangs. His eyes went back to green not to long after. He looked a little worn out now so maybe we should take it slow for now.

"That went well. I mean, I didn't phase or anything." He said and I nodded.

"I think a few more sessions like this you'll be able to do it at will. Then after that I could teach you a few moves."

"That would be great." He beamed as he picked up his shirt.

"Same time tommorrow?" I asked.

"I actually have to patrol in the afternoon so do you mind if I come in the morning?"

"Sure."

He slipped his shoes on and we headed back to the house.

"So how are things going for the thing you have this weekend?" I asked as we walked in.

"So far so good. Although I'm sure me and Paul will get into it again."

"Again?"

"Well physicaly at least."

"What happened?"

"He tried to insult you guys but I lunged at him and practically strangled him with one hand."

"Awesome!" Emmett boomed from his seat of the couch.

"Thanks." Thomas said with a small smile. He looked around the room. "Where are the girls?"

"Upstairs. They're getting Nessie's outfits ready for their fashion show. Carlise should be here in about 5 minutes same with Esme." Emmett said.

"Ah well I should head out. I promised Seth I would take his shift so he could help his mom out. Will you tell Edward and Carlisle what I saw?" He asked and I nodded. He shook my hand, waved goodbye to Emmett, and said goodbye to the girls who said goodbye as well.

~~~~~~~SATURDAY~~~~~~~

T.J. POV

Me and Seth sat on either side of Jacob, while Leah sat next to Seth. We were waiting for Sam and the others to show up. We were near the cliffs where we have council meetings. Old Quil, Billy, and Sue were in there usual spots.

"Thomas, have you seen anything about this meeting?" Old Quil asked softly and I shook my head.

"No Mr. Ateara. I have no idea what's going to happen."

"I'm sure everything will be fine." Billy said. Sue nodded in agreement.

"Just don't get baited by Paul." Seth said.

I leaned forward to look at his face.

"I wasn't planning on it."

We sat there for another 10 minutes before the others came over. The sat opposite us. Sam had Jared and Paul, on either side of him. Quil and Embry sat off to the side with Collin and Brady. We all just stared at each other. Well, Paul glared at me and Jacob while the others, except Sam, looked sheepish. The imprints, minus Claire, where sitting in a group by the Elders.

"I believe this the first meeting we've had in a while." Billy started. "I for one, am glad that some of the Cullen's agreed to watch the line while we talk."

"Fantastic." Paul muttered and Sam elbowed him.

"So first and foremost, do any of you have anything to say to each other?" Billy asked. No one said anything. We didn't even move. The only sound we could hear was the fire crackling.

"I would actually like to make a suggestion." Sam said after a few minutes.

"Oh and what might that be?" Sue asked.

"I think that from here on out, we should let any new wolf decide what pack they would like to join." He started. "Jacob can't just stop being Alpha and I haven't been able to stop phasing for an extended period of time."

"It would help if those leeches weren't here." Paul said and I growled.

Jake elbowed me in the stomach. I turned to look at him and he shook his head. He mouthed the words 'Not worth it' and I calmed down a little.

Paul and I locked gazes and narrowed our eyes at one another.

"I think that's only fair," Sam said to try and change the subject. "If we give them that option, they won't feel obligated to stay in one place if they don't want to." He finished.

"I think that's a good idea." Billy said. "Sue?"

"I see no problem with it, but I would extend it to the current wolves as well." She said.

"Old Quil?"

"I'm in agreement with Sue."

"Then I see no problem with it. You can work that out amongst yourselves. Anything else?" Billy asked.

"Yeah I have a question. Two actually." Paul said. Well this should be fun.

"Go ahead." Billy said reluctantly.

"How could you," He said looking at Jacob. "Just abandon the rest of us for that bitch. Did you not care about your dad or your sister?"

"Paul!" Rachel and Sam said at the same time.

"No babe he needs to hear this. I'm the one who had to hold you at night when you cried yourself to sleep worrying about this prick!" He said pointing a finger at Jacob. I jumped to my feet.

"Watch you your mouth you asshole." I said through my teeth. Paul jumped up too. I could feel someone pulling me back and I saw Sam and Jared holding Paul.

"And you," He growled. "Why the hell didn't you say anything about this stupid ass gift of yours? Do you not realize that we wouldn't have said anything about it? We could have used it to our advantage! Hell it could have been useful again-"

"I refuse to be someone's slave!" I roared cutting him off. "I didn't tell anyone because I wasn't the only one at risk if this got out. And really it's none of your business."

"The hell it isn't leech lover! If you told us things would have went bad, we wouldn't be broken."

"And if all of you weren't so gung ho on hurting our allies, we wouldn't have left in the first fucking place!"

"That's enough!" Billy yelled. Me and Paul stopped fighting the people holding us back, but we still glared at each other.

"Are we done here dad?" I heard Jake ask.

"There's one more thing we need to discuss. Old Quil?" I heard him say.

"This is last topic involves something that I heard when I was a child. In Ephraim's time, a shaman told him that there would be a group of wolves that the Quileute have never seen before. It would start with a child that was the son of the Chief. He would be the first one in our history to find an immortal soulmate. His right hand would be someone with the blood of the Alpha as well as the Beta. Someone who could predict when things would happen." He paused and we all looked at him. He stared directly at me and Jacob.

"These wolves will be the first of many that would unite us with the cold ones, as well as anyone else involved in the supernatural. The first of many that would gain immense power to protect our people, their families, and their loved ones. Jacob, Thomas, they were talking about the two of you."

We all stared at him too stunned to say anything. After a few minutes I broke the silence.

"Is this the reason why all of you have been so understanding?" I asked. I was trying to understand all of this myself. Did this mean that my bond with Tanya meant nothing more than a better realationship with vampires? Is that all it would be instead of a bond of love?

"Partially." Old Quil said snapping me out of my thoughts. "I've seen how you are with the others Thomas. Your father would be proud to have you as a son. Even if you didn't have your gift, you would still be a valued member of this family." He gave me a small smile and I nodded.

"Now, I don't want you thinking that this means you will only form bonds with other vampires because we told you this." Billy started. "You will form them by not being predjudice. You will form them by being understanding. They will be true bonds that no one, whether they be wolves, vampires, or human can break. So if you two were thinking along those lines, stop right now."

I nodded my head as did Jacob.

"Good. Do either of you have any questions?"

I would've laughed at the fact that all of us, including the imprints shook our heads, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it.

"Ok then. I suggest that we hold meeting like this at least twice a month. What say you?" Billy asked as he look at the other Elders.

"I agree." Old Quil said.

"As do I." Sue said.

"Sam? Jacob? Do either of you object?"

"No." They both said.

"Well then how about we head out early then." We all nodded our heads in agreement, broke off into our own groups, and left the site.


	19. Surprise, Surprise

T.J. POV

~~~~~~~3 MONTHS LATER~~~~~~~

After the meeting, me and the pack talked about what we just heard.

**FLASHBACK**

"How do you think they found all of that out?" Seth asked.

"I guess it must've been in Ephraim's journal or something. Old Quil is our record keeper, so with him finding out about me, it sparked the memory of him hearing about it and he checked to see if they had it on record." I said.

"So you two are going to be very powerful now?" Leah asked and I shrugged.

"I guess so. You know Jake, you've been very quiet." I said and he shrugged.

"I don't know what to think or say."

"Jake, you better not be thinking that you finding Nessie was nothing more than to fufill some...some..." I had trouble trying to find the right word.

"Prophecy?" Seth suggested. All of us turned to look at him.

"What?"

"Nothing. That was just a good suggestion." Leah said.

"I'm allowed to have a moment you know." He huffed and I ruffled his hair.

"Sorry about that little brother. But as I was saying, Jake, don't think that this happened only because of some prophecy." I said and he shrugged again.

We didn't say anything else. We split up not to long after, and headed to our respective homes.

**END FLASHBACK**

I asked Billy why they didn't say anything sooner. He said that Jacob's part in this came first and they had to wait and see about my part. You know, to see if I was actually gifted. He always suspected but he had to be sure. When they were, they had to tell everyone at once.

My training with Jasper was really paying off. I could be one with my wolf without having to think about it too much. He was teaching me some moves and Emmett decided to join.

**FLASHBACK**

"Remember Private, you have to use his size against him." Jasper said.

"Got it." I said. It was weird hearing my voice sound so deep.

"Ready wolf man?" Emmett said and I nodded.

He charged forward but I knew his plan. He was going to come at me from the side. He tried to take a swing at me but I dodged. He tried again but I ducked and swiped my right claw upward towards his chin so I could knock him back. I connected with him just before he could move. I thought my hand would've hurt or my claws would've cracked but I only felt pain for a second.

"Lucky shot there, cub." He smirked and I rolled my eyes. He needs better insults.

He tried swinging at me again but I caught his hand so I could flip him over my shoulder. I wanted to kick him in the face but I did a back flip so I could avoid his attempt knock my feet out from under me.

"Not bad Parivate, not bad at all." Jasper murmured.

"It's a good thing I can see the future huh?" I said without taking my eyes off of Emmett who, was dusting himself of.

"Oh yes. It makes up for your lack of strength and speed." Jasper mused.

"Are you hungry Thomas." I heard Esme ask. I looked over at her and smiled.

"Are we done for the day?" I asked Jasper and he nodded.

"Same time tomorrow." He said and I nodded.

**END FLASHBACK**

I didn't really talk to Edward too much after the whole thing with Charlie. I did however, end up speaking with him after Nessie snuck out of their cottage.

**FLASHBACK**

I was a good 20 miles out from the Cullens house when I heard Nessie's sniffling. I saw her with her arms around her knees. She must've been crying for awhile. I walked over to her and knelt down.

"What's wrong little one?" I asked and she shook her head.

"Nessie, I need to know what's wrong so I can help you." It amazed me that she was only a few weeks old yet she could walk and talk.

She leaned forward and placed her hand on my cheek. She was showing me an argument between Bella and Edward.

"You have to stay here Edward, I need to do this." Bella said.

"No." Edward hissed.

"If you go, they'll just antagonize you. That's why I'm going with Carlisle."

"I'm not letting you anywhere near them." He said firmly.

"I have to go or they will come here. And what happens when they find out about Renesmee?"

"They won't." He said. I already told him this shit so why is he fighting it? Oh yeah, because he's an idiot.

Her thoughts shifted. She fell a sleep after that and woke up to try and find her parents. She called for them but they never came. She walked around the cottage but they were no where to be seen. She climbed out the front window and ran.

She ended things with _'they left me.'_

She dropped her hand and started sobbing.

"Oh honey come here." I said holding my arms out. She leapt into my arms and buried her face into my shoulder.

"They probably went hunting." I said and she shook her head.

_They always tell me._

"Maybe you were asleep when they decided to hunt."

She shook her head again.

_If I wasn't around, Mama and Daddy wouldn't be fighting. They would go everywhere together and not have to worry about me._

"That's not true Renesmee. Your mommy and daddy had a fight because your daddy can be a bit overprotective. It had nothing to do with you."

She didn't buy it so I had to try another tactic.

"Do you think it's fair to do this to your family? Do you think they'll be happy now that your gone?"

She tensed up for a second but then she shook her head.

"Well let's go then. They're probably worried sick." I said and she nodded.

She threw her arms around my neck as I held her. It took us at least half an hour of walking before we reached the Cullens house. Jacob was on the front lawn in human form glaring at Edward and Bella. All of them were out there actually. The pack was here too. Their eyes snapped to me when they heard me walk towards them.

"Oh thank god!" Bella said when she saw us. She rushed over to us, but stopped when she saw me shooting daggars at Edward.

"Renesmee, go to your mother. I need to teach your father a lesson." I said through my teeth. She leaned back so she could face me.

_Don't hurt him._

"Don't worry little one. I just need to talk to him so this doesn't happen again." I said more calmly. I kissed her forehead and said, "I promise."

I handed her to Bella.

"You should head back to the cottage Bella. What I'm about to say should not be said in front of children."

She just stared at me.

"I'm serious. You don't want her hearing this."

She looked over at Edawrd.

"Don't worry your husband will be in one piece." I said.

"Go ahead love." Edward said.

Bella bit her lip and nodded. They second she flashed away, I stalked over to Edward. My claws came out as did my fangs. I started replaying what Nessie told me and his eyes widened.

"That's right fucker, this is your fault." I hissed.

"We didn't mean for it-"

"Dosen't fucking matter." I said cutting him off. " It shouldn't have happened in the first place!" I growled as I stood in front of him. I heard Alice gasp before she started snarling.

"It was agreed that Bella would go with Carlisle to see the Volturi, why did you bring it up again!" She hissed at Edward.

"What?" Various people asked.

"Nessie heard Bella and Edward arguing about Bella's trip to Italy. She didn't here the whole thing but she heard the part where Bella said that Edward should stay here for Nessie, but he said no. She was half a sleep when she heard that and when she woke up later, they were gone. She thought they left her. She thought it was her fault that they were fighting." She said through her teeth and the others started growling. All except Seth, Carlisle, and Esme who were just shaking their heads at Edward.

"I didn't want her-"

"This is not about you, you self important asshole!" I roared as I grabbed his collar and pulled him closer to me. "The entire time you were with Bella it was about what you wanted. She only asked for one thing and you couldn't even do that. You were willing to put your family in danger just because you wouldn't agree to it. How selfish can you get!"

I threw him away from me and he fell on his back.

"Nessie already has your self loathing let's hope she doesn't get your ego, otherwise we're fucked. I don't think we could deal with two Edward's running around." I murmured and he growled.

"You have no idea why I did what I did!" He hissed.

"Then explain it to me! You owe me that mind reader because after all, I was the one who found your daughter crying in the forest!" I snapped and the growling behind me got louder. "Do you have any idea what could've been lurking in the forest? What if she came across a nomad? But you wouldn't know about that now would you? I mean, the last time someone you cared about came across another vampire, you were no where to be seen." I said coldly and he flinched.

"You owe all of us an explanation Edward." Carlise started. "Why did you feel the need to undermine your wife's decision?"

He looked at everyone before he sighed.

"I don't wanna lose her." He choked out. Are you fucking kidding me? "I've almost lost her so many times-"

"Mostly because of your own idiocy." Alice cut in.

He didn't say anything to her.

"I almost lost her on the day of the accident. When we went to Italy. When she was hanging out with Jacob. So many times she could've gone yet she kept coming back. I just don't want anyone coming between us, especially them."

"So your going to irritate the shit out of all of us, just so no one will try and take her away?" I said. This wasn't making any sense.

"I'm sorry, I really am. It's just...I couldn't handle it if I lost her."

"She's not gonna join the dark side you know." I started. "If their gifts didn't work on her when she was human, there's no way they would work now that she's a vampire." I said calming down.

"I just can't take that risk."

"Whatever." I said walking away. "You should go check on your wife and daughter. Wouldn't want them thinking that you were ripped apart."

I just left the rest of them there and went home.

**END FLASHBACK**

After that Edward backed off. I get that he wants to protect her, but he shouldn't be stepping on peoples toes to do it. I have to admit he's at least trying and he and I are alot more civil to each other now. Seth was a little upset about what happened, but he couldn't bring himself to hold a grudge against his friend. Leah, on the other hand, put Edward at the top of her shit list. She didn't like him already because of all the bullshit with Bella, as well as him being a vampire, but to her, this was something she couldn't let go of. Jacob was furious that someone would hurt Nessie's feelings, but couldn't bring himself to do or say anything because he didn't want to keep bringing it up.

After the whole thing with there being two packs, only Embry and Quil crossed over. The others stayed behind not because it was personal, but because they liked the fact that Sam had more experience. We all understood and so far we don act weird around each other. Me and Paul don't really talk to each other, but we do act civil when Rachel's around. Well, as civil as we can get.

Leah is actually happier with us now. She doesn't complain as much when she comes with us to the Cullens, although she only hangs out with Seth most of the time. She still snaps at us, but it's not as often as it was before.

Quil and Embry have been adjusting well to being in our pack. They were hesitant at first, but they actually get along well with Emmett. All three of them bonded over their love of video games. If we wanted to play video games on the rez, we all would head to Embry's house. He had a PS2 which he got second hand from one of his cousins. He didn't have much games but we made do. They were kinda envious of the amount of games and console's he had, but they stopped feeling that way when they beat Emmett without mercy.

The older wolves have taken well to the technique that me and Jasper came up with. Well, except Paul. He was able to stop mid transformation but it didn't look like it was supposed to. Only half of him had transformed and it took him awhile to get back to normal. Collin and Brady started learning it as well even though they don't need it at the moment. I asked them about that and they said they thought it was cool. Ah, to be young again.

Charlie is actually taking Nessie's growth rate pretty well. He still get's weirded out but Sue is very helpful. I can tell that she isn't that comfortable with the Cullens, but she doesn't say anything.

A month ago, I had another vision involving the Volturi. It didn't involve Jane or Gianna but a male vampire that I've never seen before.

**FLASHBACK**

There was a burly vampire with light blonde hair standing right outside of a warehouse. He looked like he could've given Emmett a run for his money. I could hear screeching behind him as well as screaming. The vampire pulled a cell phone out of his jacket and hit the speed dial. It rang twice before someone picked up.

_Hello?_

"Ah Jane my dear it is Ivan." He said in a thick russian accent. So this is Ivan.

_What do you want?_

"I am calling to give you progress report."

_And?_

"We have destroyed the rogues and are dealing with the one who exposed himself to the human." He said. I thought they were supposed to deal with things like that in Italy?

_That leaves one task undone, so why are you calling?_

His red eyes became dark. I guess he wanted to snap at her but he chose not too.

"We are nearly finished with this and we will be handling the last one with extra care."

_Do not call me again until it is done._

The line went dead.

"Dasvidaniya, you heartless witch." He said as he snapped his phoe shut. The screaming got louder and Ivan growled.

"Afton!" He yelled. "I told you to kill the girl, not play with her!"

"I'm just having some fun." Afton called from inside the warehouse.

Ivan murmured something in Russian that reminded me of an insult. He entered the warhouse and about 20 feet away, another vampire was standing over a woman who couldn't have been older than 23. This vampire had dark brown hair and was staring at her in amusement. The girl had a nasty gash on her arm, her clothes were ripped, and she was crying. Not far from them was a pile of burning remains. Must be the vampire that exposed himself.

"I wonder how Chelsea would feel if she found out what you were doing." Ivan taunted and Afton started snarling. Whose Chelsea?

"If you know what is good for you Russian, you will keep your mouth shut." He hissed and Ivan laughed.

"And if you know what is good for you boy, I suggest you get on with it. Kill her or change her."

"Please, I don't want to die." The girl pleaded and Ivan sighed.

"My dear, I'm not-"

"I can change her." Afton cut in. "If she is really dead set on being one of us, I'll change her."

"Are you sure you could handle it?" Ivan said.

"If I couldn't she wouldn't be alive right now."

"I guess. But what could she offer our master?"

"I'm really smart-"

"We have a lot of intelligence at our disposal." Ivan said interrupting the girl. "Try again."

"I'm a fast runner-"

"We do not need anyone with speed. Try again."

"I-I don't wanna die. Please don't kill me!" She wailed. Ivan sighed again.

"If this is what you want my child, that's fine. But I will be the one to do it. Afton, go get Gianna and start our preperation for the next task. I will join you later."

"I don't think-"

"I don't care what you think, Afton." Ivan said icily. "Clearly you were not thinking about what was going to happen next when you were playing around. Now go or I will rip you apart."

Afton glared at Ivan for a second before he stomped away from him to go find Gianna. Ivan knelt before the girl. I got a better look at her face. She had green eyes, red hair, and a strong jaw line. She had a few freckles and thin eyebrows.

"What is your name?"

"Elena. Elena McIntyre." She said in a shaky breath. Ivan smiled at her.

"Do not be afraid my dear. If this is what you truly want, I will grant you this."

"I do. But what about my family?"

"How many are there in your family?"

"Just my siblings. I been looking after them since our parents died."

"How many?" He repeated.

"I have two brothers and one sister."

"I will stay with you until you have learned the rules and some control. If you wish to turn your family, you may ask for my help or do it yourself."

"Ok." She said in a soft voice.

"Then let's get started." He said.

**END FLASHBACK**

I showed this to the Carlisle and Alice the following day. Even though they thought it was odd, they couldn't really tell me anything that could've helped. I asked Carlisle who Chelsea was and he said she was a very gifted vampire.

"She can manipulate the bonds between people. It's an extremely powerful gift, she could change someone's loyalty or strengthen it."

"So she could make someone loyal to the Volturi?"

"Yes she could but it's not supposed to be that way."

"But it's possible that she has right?"

"Yes." He murmured.

I didn't bother him after that because I could tell that this made him uncomfortable. I mean, he became friendly with the three kings and I guess he doesn't want to think about them abusing their power.

Alice kept looking out for Bella's future for when she went to Italy. Just to make sure that everything went smoothly. She tried looking out for Gianna and the others but after three weeks of nothing she stopped.

Right now me Seth and Leah are walking to the Cullens house. Jake was going to meet us there after his 'hunting' trip with Nessie and Bella.

"You didn't have to come with us Leah, I mean it's your day off." I said.

"Trying to get rid of me Matthews?" She smirked and I rolled my eyes.

"No Clearwater that's not it. I just know that you aren't particularly comfortable there."

"Well I'm not but I do like a few people there."

"Like who?"

"Alice, when she's not trying to dress me up. Jasper's alright I guess. Doc's nice as is Esme. Emmett can be an idiot sometimes and Rose acts like she's better than everyone. But of course, I have nothing against Nessie."

"Just her parents though right?" I asked and she nodded.

"It's not her fault that her mother is a wishy washy bitch or that her father is a mind raping asshole, so why should I take it out on her?"

I didn't say anything I just nodded.

"Why are we walking instead of running?" Seth asked.

"So we can give Jake sometime with Nessie."

"Hey Nessie likes us too." He huffed.

"I didn't say she didn't, but I'm pretty sure Jake is one of her favorite people. Even though she doesn't know why."

"Whatever."

We didn't talk much for the rest of the walk. When the Cullen's house came into view, the front door opened and Alice was on the other side.

"Hey pixie."

"Doggie." She said nodding at me. "Hey Seth, Hey Leah."

"Hi Alice." Seth said.

"Hey." Leah said softly. I had to give her credit for trying.

We all sprinted up the steps and walked into the house. I didn't even go 4 steps before my eyes glazed over.

I was watching Bella, Jake, and Nessie walk into view of a small clearing. Nessie was doing all sorts flips and stuff, but what caught my attention was a figure just north of them. A woman in a black dress was staring at them intently. I looked closer and almost fell over. It was Gianna. She was in Forks and she was so close to them.

The vision stopped there and I started panicking.

"What is it Private?" Jasper asked and everyone was staring at me. I bolted out of the door and said,

"Gianna's in Forks. Someone call Edward!" I phased and started running towards Jake scent. Jasper, Emmett, Seth, and Leah were following me.

_Teej? Leah?_ - Jake asked.

_Jake, I need to promise that you won't freak out ok?_

_What is it?_

_There's a vampire in the area. She's going to be watching the three of you._

_What!_

_Calm down bro. Do not engage her, we'll be right there in a minute. Your scent is getting stronger. All of yours actually. So we're close don't worry we're coming._

_Don't do anything stupid._ - Leah added.

Jake didn't say anything but he was looking around until Nessie patted him.

"Look what I can do Jakey!" She exclamied and started doing all types of flips and jumping in the air. Oh no, it's getting closer. I pushed myself to go faster until I saw them come into view. I slowed down to a trot and looked through the trees and narrowed my eye's at Gianna.

She took a few steps forward but stopped when Jake started growling. She hissed at him and smirked at Bella before she turned to leave.

_Move!_ - I said.

Leah ran ahead of me while Seth flanked Jake so he could help get Nessie and Bella home. I pushed myself harder so I could catch up. Leah almost had Gianna until something smacked her in the face.

_What the fuck was that!_

_I have no idea._

I was going to continue the pursuit but something hit me in the ribs. I yelped in pain and I got to my feet. I looked for the source of this and I saw something blur towards Leah.

_Leah duck!_

She ducked just in time to dodge the blow. Now I could see the source of the attack. It was Afton who was invisible or at least partially. He wasn't covered enough because Jasper saw him and tackled him to the ground.

"Why are you here?" He hissed.

Afton smiled at him and I saw a thin vampire with pale blonde hair heading towards Jasper. I barked and Jasper looked up. Emmett lunged at the new vampire who kicked him right in the gut and he flew back. Leah charged at him but he caught her around the neck and threw her into a tree. Afton punched Jasper when he wasn't looking. Jasper fell on his side and I charged at Afton. I managed to claw him in the face and, at the same time, he backhanded me.

"I'll get you for that one dog. Come on Alexi." He hissed before he ran. Alexi followed him as they retreated. I ignored the pain in my side and my jaw so I could run after them. Leah was right next to me as were Emmett and Jasper. They were already deep in the forest but I could still smell them. But after a minute or so I couldn't smell them at all.

_What the hell? Leah are you getting anything?_

_No I can't smell anything but us. How the hell did they do that?_

_Gianna or Alexi must be gifted, question is which one?_

We looked through the damn forest for a good 20 minutes before we called it quits.

"Let's head back to the house and regroup." Jasper suggested and we nodded before running back to the house.

We got back to the Cullens in less than 2 minutes. Jasper and Emmett ran in to the house and Alice came out with a stack of clothes for me and Leah. We nodded our thanks, picked up our stacks, and trotted off in different directions to phase. After we got dressed, we headed to the house. Leah had a nasty bruise on her face and I doubt I looked any better.

Alice opened the door the second we got on the porch.

"Come in and let Carlisle look at you." She said. We both nodded and headed to the couch. After we sat down, Nessie bounded her way over to us.

"Are you two ok?" she asked and we nodded. She Edward came into the room.

"Don't bother them now Renesmee." He said and she nodded before she left the room. He looked over at me.

"Did you recognize this Alexi?" He asked and I shook my head.

"I've never seen him before. I kinda wished you were there, would've been nice to know which one was gifted. Well besides Afton. I mean invisibility is a very powerful gift although I don't get why he didn't cover himself better."

"Because his ability is an illusion it's not true invisibility. If one person focused hard enough, they could see right through it."

"But still I can see why he's apart of the Volturi. It can be useful when needed."

"If there are holes in his gift, how did he get a spot there? I thought they only had the best of the best?" Leah asked.

"His mate is a high ranking guard member." Edward answered. Wait, his mate is a guard member?

"It's not Chelsea is it?" I asked and Edward nodded.

"Well I guess that explains Ivan's taunting in the last vision I had." I said and Edward nodded again. Carlisle and Esme came to check in with us both with ice packs in their hands. Esme gave one to Leah and Carlise gave one to me.

"How's the rib?" He asked and I raised an eye brow.

"Edward told me."

"Well it's fine now. It hurt alot more earlier though."

"Do you mind if I look?" He asked and I shook my head. I lifted up my shirt alittle so he could check. He pressed his hand at different areas asking me if it hurt when he applied pressure. I said no everytime. He told me to hold the ice pack to my face until the swelling went down. Or until the ice melted. I heard yipping outside as well as giggling.

"Nessie's outside with Seth and Bella. Jacob is talking with Sam about what just happened." Edward said and I nodded.

"I guess we figured out what the last task was." I mumbled and Edward stared at me so I added. "To check and see if you kept your promise."

"But Bella was going to see Aro-"

"That was enough for him, but not enough for Jane. When you Alice, and Bella were in Italy, what was Jane thinking about Bella? I mean if her face was any indication, she hates her."

"She does." He murmured. I looked around the room but only me Leah, Edward, and Carlisle were here. I guess Esme must've left when we were talking. I could hear low murmuring from upstairs and I could hear paws digging into the earth.

"Jacob's back." Edward said. "Sam's going to keep a look out in La Push just in case there are more vampires in the area."

"So what now?"

"We wait."

"Wait for what?" Leah asked.

"To see what will happen when Gianna goes back to Italy." Carlise said. "It's the best thing we can do right now."

We went silent. I wanted to say that if anything, there would be a full scale investigation. I mean for one, she saw a little girl do things that would be impossible for her age and size. Two, there was the matter of us giving chase to member of their guard. If I remember correctly, they don't honor truces with werewolves.

Days later, I was at the Cullens house going over a few things in my journal with Alice and Carlisle. He was going to leave with Bella in a few days, so he wanted to speak with me before he did. He was trying to get a sense of how my gift works through my experiences. He was doing this mostly because it would be a while before I could meet Eleazar. A few members of the family are heading to South America to do research on local legends to try and figure somethings ot for Nessie. You know like when she'll stop growing, if she's the only one in the world etc. He was worried about this whole thing with Gianna, but he's hoping that his friendship with Aro would be enough for them listen and let things go.

Edward and Bella were off to the side talking about travel plans. Rosalie and Esme were discussing what should and shouldn't be packed. Emmett was talking to Jasper, who was sitting on the couch with a sleeping Nessie, about the new sport they get to try out in the Amazon.

Jake was going with them and I would stay here and hold the fort. I was not so enthusiastic about being put int a leadership role and neither was Leah. Although, she didn't like the fact that Jake was going not me being in power. I mean, it couldn't be bad right?

"The one thing I've noticed about your visions," Carlilse started. Effectively snapping me out of my thoughts. "Is that it usually involves us or the pack. They get triggered by things that might affect us or the wolves. The few human ecounters you've seen, involved people who knew the secret or would know the secret or knew someone that would be involved with us."

"Like that girl Elena."

"Yes."

"I wish I could've seen where she was. I might've-"

"Don't do that to yourself." Alice cut in. "Even if you did know where, you didn't know when. It could've happened the day you saw it or the next day or the next. I had to wait a week before I met Jasper, well he kept me waiting." She threw him a playful glare and he held his hands up in defense from the couch.

"My apologies ma'am." He drawled and Alice rolled her eyes. She looked back at me. "Do you see what I'm saying? You could've waited for a while and something might have changed. Something worse could've happened to that girl. Don't beat yourself up." She said and she grabbed my hand to squeeze it reassuringly. The second she touched me, my eyes glazed over. I started seeing a lot of things at once but one particular vision stood out.

I was staring at Gianna, Alexi, and Afton in the middle of a dark throne room.

"Gianna, Afton, Alexi, Jane informs me that you recently did a few errands for her. But she said there were four of you, where is Ivan?" I asked in a soft feathery voice. Oh dear lord please tell me I'm not Aro right now.

"He is dealing with a human who wished to be apart of our world. He may be awhile master, the girl wanted to turn her family as well." Afton answered.

"I see. And what is the important matter you wish to discuss Gianna?"

"The Cullens have created an immortal child." She started. "And they are allied with werewolves." She finished and I could hear growling beside me. I looked over to my left and Caius was scowling. I looked to my right and Marcus looked more pained than usual. I looked back to Gianna.

"These are very serious accusations young one, where is your proof?"

"Here master." She said extending her hand. I got out of my chair and glided over to her. I grasped her hand with both of mine. I saw a small child jumping at least 15 feet in the air. Next to her was a large reddish brown wolf.

I let go of her hand and looked around the room.

"It would seem that one of our most sacred laws have been broken." I glanced at Marcus and Caius. "I believe a visit to our dear friend Carlisle is a must."

And that's where it ended.

I shook my head and started rubbing my temples. I looked at Alice who was frozen with Jasper at her side.

"What's wrong pixie pire?"

"They're coming for us." She and Edward said at the same time. "All of them."

"Did you have a vision?" I asked Alice who nodded slowly.

"Whose coming?" Carlisle asked. I looked around the room and the others were staring at us.

"The Volturi." Me, Alice, and Edward said.

"When?"

"Why?"

"Not long," Alice said. "There's still snow in the forest, and the town as well. I think it should be a little over a month. They've been planning this for awhile, but they never had a reason to come."

"Why?" Carlise asked.

"They must be here for Bella." Esme said.

"This is not about Bella." Me and Alice said. "They're all coming-Aro, Caius, Marcus, every member of the guard, even the wives." Alice added.

"But the wives never leave the tower the never have." Jasper said.

"I wouldn't bet against Alice, Major." I said.

"But why? We haven't done anything! And even if we did, what could we possibly do that would bring this down on us?" Carlise said.

"They think Renesmee is an immortal child." Edward said in a flat voice. "They're coming here to destroy her."

Bella choked out a sob as she went to grab Nessie. She pulled her close and buried her face in Nessie's hair.

"What's an immortal child?" I asked.

"It's when a child is turned into a vampire." Carlisle said. "They were extremely beautiful, but uncontrolable. They couldn't control their thirst or their behavior. If any vampire creates a one, both the child and the vampire will be put to death."

"But their wrong." Bella said and Edward knelt beside her. "Renesmee isn't like those other children. They were  
>frozen, but she grows so much every day. They were out of control, but she never hurts Charlie or Sue or even shows them things that would upset them. She can control herself. She's already smarter than most adults. There would be no reason.." She trailed off.<p>

"This is not something they hold a trial for my love." Edward started. "Aro has seen proof in Gianna's memories. They won't come here to talk, but to destroy."

"But they're wrong." She said stubbornly.

"They won't stop to listen I'm afraid." He said in a pained voice.

"What can we do?" She demanded. What could we do? Apart from fight back I mean.

"We fight." Emmett said after a moment of tense silence.

"We can't win!" Jasper growled as he curled his body protectively around Alice. I could tell he was working out the likelihood that we would survive. The look on his face told me that it was slim to none.

"Well we can't run either. Not with Demetri around." Emmett said with a disgusted look on his face. I'm pretty sure it was more to do with the idea of running away, than facing the Volturi. "There are a few options to consider. We don't have to fight them alone." He added.

Bella's head snapped up at that.

"We don't need to sentence the Quileutes to death either Emmett!"

"Now hold the hell on," I said and she looked at me. "You act as if we'll just stand by and watch you get slaughtered."

"That's because this isn't your fight." She said and my blood boiled.

"This is our fight just as much as it is yours." I said through my teeth. I could feel a wave of calm was over me. It barely did anything.

"Relax guys." Emmett said trying to ease the tension. "I wasn't talking about the pack Bella, but let's be realistic here. Do you honestly think that Sam or Jacob could ignore an invasion like this? Even if it wasn't about Nessie? Not to mention that, thanks to Gianna, Aro knows about our alliance with the pack now too, right?" He asked looking at me and Edward. We both nodded. "I was actually thinking of our other friends."

Carlisle looked over at him and whispered.

"We don't need to get them in trouble either."

"Let them decide for themselves." Emmett said totally unfazed but what Carlisle said. "I'm not saying they have  
>to fight with us. Actually, if they just stand beside us, just long enough to make the Volturi hesitate. Bella's right after all. If we could force them to stop and listen, they would see that this was all just a big misunderstanding."<p>

"Yes. That makes sense. We just need to make them pause and listen. Good thinking Emmett." Esme said.

"We'll need alot of witnesses." Rosalie said.

"That's the least we can ask of our friends, to bear witness." Esme said with a nod.

"We'll have to ask them just right. They'll have to be shown very carefully." Alice murmured.

"Shown?" Jasper asked.

Her and Edward both looked at Nessie before her eye's glazed over.

"We can ask Tanya's family," she said. "Siobhan's coven. Amun's. Some of the nomads. Garrett and Mary for sure. Maybe Alistair."

"What about Peter and Charlotte?" Jasper asked. I could tell that he didn't want to involve his brother and his mate.

"Maybe."

"The Amazons?" Carlisle asked. "Kachiri, Zafrina, and Senna?"

Her eyes glazed over again.

"I can't see." She said with a glance in my direction. She'll want to speak with me afterwards.

"What was that?" Edward demanded." That part with the jungle. Are we going to look for them?"

"I can't see." She repeated. "We'll have to split up and hurry. Before the snow sticks to the ground. We have to round up whomever we can and get them here to show them." She zoned out again. "Ask Eleazar if he stays here. There is more to this than just an immortal child."

There was a pause.

"Alice?" Edward asked. "That was too fast. I didn't understand it . What was-?"

"I can't see!" She exploded. "Jacob's almost here."

"I'll deal with-" Rosalie started but Alice interrupted her.

"No let him come. I'll be able to see if I'm away from Nessie too. I need to see whatever I can. Jasper, Thomas, we need to move, there's no time to waste."

"Wait, why are you taking him?" Rosalie asked. She wasn't being rude, just curious.

"So we can see if there anything that was missed." I said. "And maybe we can strike gold again with both of us seeing something this time."

I got to my feet. So did Alice and Jasper. We headed towards the back door.

"Hurry!" she called back to them over her shoulder. "You have to find them all!"

"Find what?" I heard Jake ask. "Wait, where are they going?"

We bolted out of the door before we could answer.

I wanted to phase but I just ran as fast as I could. They slowed down for me so I could keep up. I honestly wished that I could be fast in this form too, but I pushed that thought aside. We ran for at least 25 minutes before Alice stopped.

"We're about 5 miles out. Edward won't be able to her us." She said before she glanced at me. "What did you see?"

"Gianna and the others in the throne room. It was in Aro's point of view."

"Is that all?" she asked and I shook my head.

"There was a bunch of things." I paused for a second. "There's someone like Nessie out there. His name is Nahuel and he lives with his Aunt in South America." I said and Jasper looked shocked but Alice was relieved.

"That would explain why my vision went blank." She said and I nodded.

"I couldn't tell you which part because I don't know the area, but there are people who do."

"The Amazons." She said and I nodded.

"They don't know you but just tell them your Carlisle's son and daughter and they'll listen. You might be able to convince one of them to guide you."

"Are you sure?" Jasper asked. I placed a hand on his shoulder. Same with Alice. I had to focus alot more to show them but after a few moments, I showed them the conversation they'll have with the Amazons.

I wobbled for a bit but I gathered my bearings.

"That will come later, but you need to find Peter and Charlotte first. They'll be eager to help and they won't be weary about Nessie."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, they trust the both of you."

I paused.

"Look, you can't tell anyone where your going. I'll know but no one else. You have to make it look like you- like you deserted us." My voice broke at the end and my eyes started welling up. "If you don't get back in time, run and never stop running. Do not let Aro win. Live on for us."

Tears started rolling down my cheek. Both of them looked pained. Alice held her arms open. I picked her up and she wrapped her arms around my neck. Her body was wracked with silent sobs. I on the other hand, let out strangled one's. Jasper placed a hand on my shoulder and I looked at him.

"Look after them while we're gone. Make sure they don't do anything stupid." He said and I nodded. Not trusting myself to speak.

I put Alice back down and she shot me a sad glance.

"I'll see you later my seeing eye dog."

"Later my little pixie pire." I said and I cried harder. I looked at Jasper, straightened my posture, and saluted him.

"Major Whitlock."

He saluted me as well.

"Private Matthews."

He pulled me into a hug and let me go after a minute.

"Let's go Jazzy. We don't have much time." Alice said.

After one last glance at me, they both flashed away. I fell to my knees and put my face in my hands. I cried even more. After taking a few moments to calm myself down, I stripped and phased.

I ran close to the house and told Edward that we didn't get anything but we would try later. I told him that Jasper was trying to calm her down and that they would be back whenever. I ran all the way home, glad that no one else was in wolf form at the moment. After I phased out I looked up at the moon and said.

"Dad if your listening, please look after them. Please keep them safe. Bring them back to us."


	20. We Meet At Last

**AUTHORS NOTE**

Sorry for going a month without updating this story. Lots of things have been going on in my life but I'll spare you the details. Trust me, it's very boring. I'll try to update as much as I used to but I can't make any promises. For now, here's the new chapter and I hope you enjoy it!

-Capt. Hazard.

* * *

><p>T.J. POV<p>

I barely slept last night. If I wasn't crying I had a splitting headache. I packed a duffle bag full of clothes and headed back to the Cullens house. I was going to stay in forest or something so I could give them updates. I left my mom a note saying that I would call her from time to time.

After what seemed like hours, the Cullens house came into view. Everyone from my pack was out front in there wolf form. Everyone except Jake. He must be inside with Nessie. Embry was the first to notice me and he whined. I guess my face must've been something to see.

"Don't worry bro, I'm fine."

I shuffled passed them and made my way over to front porch. I could hear hear Jake murmuring to Nessie.

"Don't worry everything will be fine Ness."

I knocked on the door hoping that Jake would answer. I could hear him walk to the front door. He opened it and stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of me.

"You look horrible."

"You're hardly the looker yourself, Jake." I tried to joke but he narrowed his eyes at me.

"What happened?"

"Let's wait for the others to get back."

"How do you know they left?" He said and he looked at my bag." And what's with the bag?"

"Well I don't hear or smell them." I started. "And I saw them leave earlier. As for the bag, well I'll be staying near by to give them updates on things."

"Are you sure? I mean-"

"You have a reason for staying here Jake." I said interrupting him. I looked over at Nessie who was rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "Good morning little one." I said and she smiled and waved at me. "I have mine as well Jake. I'm going to help them and it would be easier if I stayed close by."

He didn't say anything although I'm sure he wanted too. Barely 5 minutes passed before the Cullens, minus Edward and Bella, showed up.

"It's true isn't it?" I said to no one in particular. Hopefully my acting skills are as good as theirs because I really need to play the part. Carlisle approached me and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Yes, it's true."

I put my face in my hands and ran my fingers through my hair. I grabbed a pen and paper out of my bag and started writing.

**NEW MEMBERS**

Matilda Uley 16

Tabitha Uley 16

Ian Uley 14

Jack Wilde 13

Danielle Cameron 15

Derek Cameron 14

Laurence Fox 13

After I wrote out the names, I handed the paper to Jake. He stared at it with wide eyes and he started shaking his head.

"This has to be a mistake." He said. I looked around the room and only Emmett was here with us. I could hear Esme and Roslaie upstairs packing. Emmett walked over to us.

"What's up?" He asked looking at the note in Jacob's hand. Carlisle was craning his neck to see what was on it.

"Please tell me this is a mistake Thomas." Jake said and I shook my head.

"Those are the names of the wolves that will be joining us."

"But this is a pack within itself!" Jacob exclaimed and I shrugged.

"You know about Emmett's plan right?" I asked and he nodded.

"Well, the number of vampires that are coming will be in the double digits."

He shook his head again and looked at the list.

"I know the Wilde's are my cousins, but I don't remember there being any boys in the family. So where did he get the gene?"

"Jack get's the gene from the from the all three bloodlines. His great grand father on his mother's side was Caleb Uley, who was married to Alice Huautah, who is the daughter of Jane Black. His father is the older brother of Jane Wilde and Sarah Black, who are the daughters of Quil Ateara. His name is Alan Wilde. You probably don't remember him." I said and he shook his head.

"I do. He left La Push not to long after he got married but he kept in touch and he would visit from time to time. I think he's moving back though. Fox?"

"All three as well. His father is Michael Clearwater, Harry's older brother, Seth and Leah's uncle."

"If Michael Clearwater is his father, why does he have a different name?"

"Because his mother never told him who his father was. I don't think Michael knows either. Look Jake I need you to get those names to Sam. Tell him to look out for them. And you should send everyone else back for the time being."

There were growls and whines of protest from outside.

"That's a good idea." Jake said with a nod and he turned to Carlisle. "Do you mind if we stay here? Me and Thomas I mean."

I glared at Jacob and before I could speak Carlisle did.

"Of course not, your always welcomed here."

"It's fine Carlisle. I'll stay in the forest so your friends won't have to put up with two of us." I said and he shook his head.

"Your our friend as well and soon enough, you'll be apart of our family." He said. He seemed to notice his blunder and tried to cover it up but Emmett questioned him.

"A little early to be saying that right dad?"

"He's not talking about that." I said looking at Jacob then Nessie who was on the couch looking at us. "He means I'll be apart of the family as your cousin. Well, by marriage if we ever get that far."

"What are you talking about?" Rosalie asked as she came back into the room. Again, she was curious.

I could hear the others go quiet outside. I think they were holding their breath.

"I'm talking about Tanya Denali, who is my soulmate." I said.

Carlisle looked slightly apologetic. I guess it was for bringing this up. Emmett's mouth was hanging open. Rosalie froze in her place. Jacob looked confused. Esme came back into the room and gave me a warm smile.

"So your soulmate is related to the Cullens?" Jake asked.

"In a sense. They consider themselves family because they share the same diet. Right?" I asked looking at Carlisle who nodded his answer.

"So your soulmate is a vampire?" Jake asked.

"Yeah, you got a problem with that?" I asked while narrowing my eyes.

"Oh no it's just a big surprise is all. When did you find this out?"

"Well it started at the wedding." I said and I recounted the things that I talked about with Alice and Jasper. And the end of it Carlisle looked pleased. Jake looked...Well I can't describe it. It was somewhere between disbelief and hapiness. He went to the couch and pulled Nessie into his lap. Esme had an even brighter smile than before. Rosalie gave me a warm smile. And Emmett had a goofy ass grin that I didn't trust for a second.

Bella and Edward came into the house not too long after that. They were looking around the room.

"So where are we headed first?" Bella asked.

"We're staying here?" Edward said looking at Carlise who nodded. Edward didn't look or sound happy about that.

"Alice said that we would have to show people Renesmee, and we would have to be careful about it," Carlisle said. "We'll send whomever we can find back here to you Edward, you'll be the best at fielding that particular minefield."

Edward gave him a sharp nod.

"There will be alot of ground to cover."

"We're splitting up, Me and Rosie will look for the nomads." Emmett chimed in. They must've talked about this earlier.

"You'll have your hands full here," Carlisle said. "I called the Tanya earlier. They will be here in the morning, and they have no idea why. First, you have to persuade them not to react the way the Volturi have. Second, you've got to find out what Alice meant about Eleazar. Then, after all that, will they stay to witness for us? It will start again as the others come if we can persuade anyone to come in the first place." Carlisle sighed. "Your job may well be the hardest. We'll be back to help as soon as we can."

He shook Edward's hand and kissed Bella on the forehead. Esme hugged the both of them and Emmett puched them both in the shoulder. Rosalie gave them each a small smile. She blew a kiss to Nessie and grimaced at Jacob.

"Good luck." Edward said.

"To you as well," Carlisle said. "We'll all need it."

He glanced at me, Jacob, and Nessie before heading to the garage. The rest of them followed. 5 minutes later I could hear their cars driving down the driveway.

"Jake." I called and he looked at me. "You should talk to Sam now. There may be some unexpected guests in the woods."

I held up my hand to get his attention before he moved.

'Send them home' I mouthed and pointed outside. He nodded and put Nessie back down on the couch. He went through the front door. I could hear him walking towards the forest. After a few moments, I felt that familiar shimmer.

"I'll be staying close by." I said looking at Edward and Bella. "I'll give you updates on whatever I find."

"You can stay here you know. You'll just have to keep your distance form our friends." Edward said.

"And that's what I am doing, keeping my distance."

"Don't bother, Carlisle told me to tie you down if I have too if it means you'll stay here." He said with a small grin and I glared.

"You wouldn't."

"Try me."

I didn't say anything because I could hear some growling outside.

_What the hell?_

"Embry's trying to convince Jacob to let him stay. Jacob is considering it." Edward answered my thought.

_He better not let him stay. If he does then the rest of them will want the same thing._

"It may not be so bad. An Alpha is strong on his own but he needs his right and his left. He's been considering making Embry his third for awhile now."

_You can't see this as a good thing._

"It may not be so bad. Like I said, just keep your distance."

I pinched the bridge of my nose and shook my head. This is not good.

_Well how can he stay? His mother doesn't know what he is or does and he still has school to finish._

"He could take a sabatical like Jacob or take his GED. His mother may be the trickest obstacle but I'm sure he could work it out."

I scowled at the floor. I shook my head to clear then I headed outside. Jake and Embry were in their wolf forms staring each other down. The others were watching intently.

"Jake." I said and he looked at me.

"I don't like this. I think the least amount of wolves here would be better." I said and everyone except Jake and Seth growled. "Look it's gonna be hard for them to accept that Nessie is not a threat. It's gonna be harder to accept that we have allied ourselves with the Cullens. I mean, we're supposed to be enemies right?" I asked looking at each of them. They all nodded slowly.

"I think it would be good for you to have your second or third here Jake, but Seth cannot stay here." I said and Seth whined. I looked at him. "No Seth, you can't stay. I want you to look after the new wolves ok? They'll respect Sam because of his leadership and experience, but you can help them transition better. You're around the same age, you can understand things that Sam might not be able to. You have to help them little brother."

He looked at me for a second then nodded. I turned to Leah.

"Same goes for you Leah. You saw the list I gave to Jake right?" I asked and she nodded once. "There are three girls on that list. What they will experience no one else can unerstand. It may be hard for you to do, but you're the only one that could understand the concerns they could have. I know it still hurts sometimes to be near Sam, but you have to endure it for them."

After a moment she nodded too. I turned to Quil.

"You can't stay here either and I know you won't bring Claire around any time soon, so you need to go home too. I'm sorry Quil but like I said, the least amount of wolves, the better."

He looked down at the ground but I could tell that he wanted to argue.

"And that just leaves you," I said turning to Embry. "You still have to finish school and your mother would have a cow if you were gone for an extended period of time. But, it would be nice to have three wolves here instead of two. So you'll have to work out whatever you can so you can stay here." I glanced at Jacob. "If that's alright with you."

He looked back and forth between me and Embry. He seemed to be taking his time considering this. Good. Don't want to be rash when it comes to this.

After a few moments he nodded then barked. He ran towards La Push and the others followed. I made my way back to the house. I walked back in and Bella was on the couch with Nessie and Edward was near the table reading the note I wrote to Jacob.

"Whatcha doing?" I asked.

"Seven lives." Was all he said.

"What?"

"Seven lives that will be changed." He said and I groaned. He's going emo on me. I crossed the room and took the note from his hand.

"This is not the time for you to think like this. You need to have a clear mind for tomorrow."

"I'm so sorr-"

He was cut off by my hand slapping his face. It hurt like hell but I was too upset to care. I grabbed the collar of his shirt with my other hand.

"Do not do this right now mind reader. I don't want you all depressed right now."

"But-"

"No buts!" I growled. "Your cousins will be here tomorrow and you need to gather your wits. You need to be strong now."

I let go of him and grabbed my bag. I walked over to the couch and sat down. I shook my hand out to get rid of the stinging. Bella was staring at me in shock and Renesmee frowned at me.

"Why did you hit my daddy?" She asked.

Because he's an idiot.

"He's not being very smart right now, someone needed to slap some sense into him."

She frowned even more but didn't say anything.

"So what's the plan then?" I asked. Bella and Edward just stared at me.

"How are you going to prove that your daughter is not a threat?" I elaborated.

"I'm going to speak with them first," Edward said. "Then after that we'll let them meet Nessie."

"So how are you going to butter them up?"

"I think the best way would be for Renesmee to be in another room. I'll have them smell her scent, then listen to her heartbeat. Once they recognize that she is not entirely human but not fully vampire either, I'll have Bella bring her out." He explained and I nodded.

"That might work. Jake will want to be in the room with Bella. If Embry does join us, we'll be in the kitchen or right outside waiting just in case."

"Can you see what will happen tomorrow?" He asked.

"Not everything. I know Peter and Charlotte will be here and they'll be joining us. I can't see anything about the Denali's so work fast with them just in case."

"Why can't you see them?" Bella asked.

_Do you know? About me and Tanya?_ I thought and Edward nodded.

"Well, I believe that I can't see them, because of Tanya." I said. She frowned so I continued. "Tanya is my soulmate and I don't think I was allowed to see her until the right moment."

"Did you see all of the others and their soulmates?" She asked while shooting a glance to Nessie who was looking around.

"Yes...and no."

_I'll explain later if you want, _I thought to Edward who nodded.

"So how do you feel?" Edward asked. "About meeting her?"

"Not sure really. Part of me is estatic, but with all of this happening..." I trailed off with a shrug.

The silence that followed was a bit much for me. I wanted to make small talk but I couldn't think of anything. Thankfully, I could hear giant paws hitting the earth.

"Jacob's back." Edward said. "Sam understands the situation and as long as none of our friends tresspass in La Push, there will be no problem."

"Embry?"

"He's working on it but he'll be here."

I just nodded my head. I still didn't like the idea. There was another uncomfortable silence so I decide to break it.

"So why would you have the harder task?" I asked Edward. "With Tanya's family I mean."

"They take the law very seriously, especially the sisters," He said. "Along time ago, Tanya's creator and mother, Sasha, broke one of these laws."

"Let me guess, she created an immortal child." I said and he nodded.

"Nobody knows why she did such a thing. She and the child were burned in front of the rest of the coven, which at the time consisted of Kate, Tanya, and Irina. They would've been killed too, but Aro decided to let them live." He said. "He claimed that since they had no knowledge of the child's existence, they shouldn't be punished."

"Who wanted them dead?" I asked although I had a good feeling about who it might be.

"Caius" He said. Figures. "He said that they should be destroyed because they were guilty by association."

"Because Sasha was their mother?"

"Yes. And from that day on they respected the law. It may be difficult to prove that Renesmee is not an immortal child, but I feel that once they see she is not such a child, they will aid us."

I nodded my head. We went silent again.

"You'll be good for each other." Edward said out of no where. I raised an eyebrow.

"You and Tanya. You'll be good for each other."

"You're just saying that because you'll have one less person hitting on you." I joked and he stared at me with wide eyes. "What?"

"How did you know about that?"

"Tanya hitting on me."

"I didn't, it was a joke." I said while I narrowed my eyes.

"Oh." Was all he said and he avoided my gaze.

Thankfully the silence that followed was ended by Jacob stepping into the house.

"What's the scoops?" I asked and he stared at me blankly. "What's going on?" I explained.

"Well, Embry will join us for the time being." He said. "His mom is going up north for a bit so he'll be staying here until she get's back. After that he'll be coming here in the afternoon, until winter break."

"What about school?"

"My dad will take care that."

"How exactly?"

"The principal of the rez school is in on the secret. He had to be otherwise there would be too many questions about all of us. So Embry will get whatever assignments he needs now and turn them in later."

"And why can't you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Collect all the work and do it later." I said he shrugged.

"Not sure."

I just shook my head. If he keeps this up, Nessie will be smarter than him before she turns two. Actually I think she already is. I sighed, grabbed my bag, and got to my feet.

"Do you have a guest room?" I asked Edward and he nodded.

"Come on, I'll show you."

He led me up the stairs to the second floor. He led me down to the end of the hall. He opened the door and walked in. The room was simple. It had a bed, a TV, etc. Just basic stuff that could entertain guests, and act as a blank slate for whoever stays here.

"Thanks." I said. He nodded and left the room. I threw my bag on the floor and jumped on the bed. This is gonna be a long ass month.

~~~~~~~ THE NEXT MORNING ~~~~~~~

Embry came by later on last night after he worked everything out. He stayed in the room with me and we both got up to take showers and get some breakfast. I showered before he did and before he did, he asked me a question.

"Why do they need water?" He asked. I guess the idea of a vampire needing a fully furnished house with plumbing and all is something he just can't wrap his head around.

"They can take showers you know." I said. "Besides, wouldn't it be a little suspect if someone built this house and it had no water or plumbing."

He shrugged and took a towel out of the hallway closet.

"I'll be downstairs making breakfast." I said and he raised an eyebrow.

"You can cook?"

"I'm no Emily or Esme but I'm not completely useless in the kitchen."

He shrugged again and headed to the bathroom. I bounded down the stairs and headed into the kitchen. I searched the fridge and cupboards for a bunch of stuff like a crate of eggs, mushrooms, cheese, milk etc. I placed all the stuff on the counter and look for some frying pans. After I found them I put the burners on high and placed the pans on each one.

I threw spoonfuls of butter into each pan. I cracked about 16 eggs, 8 for me and 8 Embry. I scrambled them, added some milk, and poured them in the pans. I added salt and pepper after I did that. I threw a handful of mushrooms in each one and flipped them over. I grabbed a plate and scraped the eggs out of the pan. I threw some cheese on it and left it on the side. I repeated the same thing for the other one.

While I was looking for the toaster, Embry walked in.

"Well at least you didn't burn the house down." He smirked and I rolled my eyes.

"What, were you expecting a house fire?" I said and he shrugged. "Look you can eat yours if you want but I'm making some toast now so if you wanna wait…" I trailed off and he nodded.

After everything was done we sat at the dinner table and dug in. We mostly stayed quiet. I say mostly because while I didn't say anything, Embry chewed his food with his mouth opened.

"Pig." I grumbled. He grinned at me but didn't say anything.

After we were done I washed the dishes. I had to stop him seveal times from trying to steal some of the sandwhiches I made for Nessie and Jake. Luckily the others showed up before I had to wrestle him to the floor.

"Something smells good." Jake said.

"I made some sandwhiches for you and Nessie." I heard Bella grit her teeth but she didn't say anything. I fought the urge to roll my eyes and continued. "I made them just in case you two were hungry."

He nodded and went to grab a sandwhich. I looked over at Edward.

"So where do you want us? Upstairs? Outside?" I asked.

"You two can stay here in the dinning room with the others while I talk to my cousins." He said and I nodded.

We wordlessly sat down while Edward stood near the windows. I could hear cars zooming on the freeway. None of them were slowing down or stopping.

"What if the don't like me?" I heard Nessie whisper. My eye's flashed toward her as did everyone else in the room.

"Of course they'll-" Jake tried to say but the glare Bella was giving him shut him up.

"They don't understand you, Renesmee, because they've never met someone like you," She said. "Getting them to understand is the problem."

Nessie sighed before putting her hand to Bella's face.

"You're special, that's not a bad thing." Bella said after a moment. Nessie shook her head in disagreement.

"This is my fault." She said.

"No." We all said at the same time. She has too much of her parents in her for her own good.

Before we could say anymore, we could hear the cars slowing down. First hitting the damp path then the pavement.

Edward darted out of the room while me and Embry stood up. This was just in case we needed to spring into action.

Edward opened the door around the same time the Denali's opened their car doors.

"Hello there Edward." I heard Tanya say. I tried not to seem to excited by hearing her voice but the smirks on Embry and Jake's faces told me it didn't work.

"Hello, Tanya, Kate, Irina, Eleazar, Carmen." Edward said. There were four murmured hellos.

"Carlisle said we needed to be here as soon as possible." Tanya said.

"What's the problem? Trouble with the werewolves?" I heard a new voice ask. I didn't hear this person at the wedding. This must be Irina.

I saw Jacob roll his eyes but Embry had a frown on his face. I wonder what's that about?

"No there's no problem." Edward said. "Our truce with the wolves is stronger than ever."

Someone chuckled.

"Aren't you going to invite us in?" Tanya asked. "Where is Carlisle?"

"Carlilse had to leave."

There was a short silence.

"What's going on Edward?" Tanya demanded.

"If you could give me the benefit of the doubt for just a few minutes," He answered. "I have something difficult to explain, and I'll need you to be open minded until you understand."

"Is Carlisle alright? Is everyone alright?" I heard an axious male voice ask. Must be Eleazar.

"None of us are alright my friend," Edward said. I heard him patting something, must be Eleazar's shoulder. "But physically Carlisle is fine."

"Physically?" Tanya asked sharply. "What do you mean Edward?"

"I mean that my entire family is in very grave danger. But before I explain, I ask for your promise. Listen to everything I say before you react. I am begging you to hear me out."

The silence that followed made me very nervous. From the looks on everyone faces told me they felt the same way.

"We're listening," Tanya finally said. "We will hear it all before we judge."

"Thank you, Tanya," Edward said fervently. "We wouldn't involve you in this if we had any other choice."

They all shuffled into the room and someone sniffed.

"Is that-" I heard Tanya say.

"Yes cousin, it's him."

"It's who?" I heard some ask but none answered. She must be thinking of me.

"How is your Bella?" someone else asked.

"She's well, thank you. She's taken to immortality with amazing finesse."

_It's because she was meant for this life._ I thought.

"Tell us about the danger, Edward," Tanya said softly. "We'll listen, and we'll be on your side, where we belong."

Edward took a deep breath before speaking.

"Listen in the next room and tell me what you hear."

The was a small pause.

"There are four beings with heartbeats in there." Irina said. "One's different though. It's faster. A thrumming sort of beat. Is that a bird of some kind?"

"No, but remember what you're hearing. Now, what do you smell? Besides the wolves."

"Do you have a human here?" I heard Eleazar whisper."

"That's not a human." A female voice said.

"It's not," Tanya agreed. "Well not entirely. What is that, Edward? I don't think I've ever smelled that scent before."

"You most certainly have not, Tanya. Please, please remember that this is something entirely new to you. Throw away your preconceived notions."

"I already told you that we would listen Edward."

"All right, then. Bella? Bring out Renesmee, please."

Slowly, Bella got out of her seat same with Jake. They shuffled nervously into the living room. When they went in, several people moved and one of them hissed.

"You promised to listen," he reminded them.

"Some things cannot be heard!" Tanya exclaimed. "How could you, Edward? Do you not know what this means?"

"We have to get out of here," Irina said anxiously. I could hear someone's hand on the doorknob.

"Edward . . ." Eleazar seemed beyond words.

"Wait," Edward said, his voice harder now. "Remember what you hear, what you smell. Renesmee is not what you think she is."

"There are no exceptions to this rule, Edward," Someone snapped back.

"Kate," Edward said sharply, "you can hear her heartbeat! Stop and think about what that means."

"Her heartbeat?" Someone whispered.

I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. We might have a chance to convince them. I glanced at Embry. He was shaking a little but he was calming down.

"She's not a full vampire child," Edward answered "She is half-human."

"Hear me." Edward's voice was a little softer now. "Renesmee is one of a kind. I am her father. Not her creator—her biological father."

"Edward, you can't expect us to—," Eleazar started to say.

"Tell me another explanation that fits, Eleazar. You can feel the warmth of her body in the air. Blood runs in her veins, Eleazar. You can smell it."

"How?" Kate whispered.

"Bella is her biological mother," Edward told them. "She conceived, carried, and gave birth to Renesmee while she was still human. It nearly killed her. I was hard-pressed to get enough venom into her heart to save her."

"I have never heard of such a thing," Eleazar said stiffly.

"Physical relationships between vampires and humans are not common," Edward answered with a bit of dark humor. "Human survivors of such trysts are even less common. Wouldn't you agree, cousins?"

Three people hissed at him. What the hell?

"Come now, Eleazar. Surely you can see the resemblance."

There was another pause.

"You seem to have your mother's eyes," Someone said in a low, calm voice, "but your father's face."

"Do you mind if Renesmee tells you about it herself?" I heard Bella ask. Her voice sounded shaky. "She has a gift for explaining things."

Could've explained that better but I get that she's nervous.

"Do you speak little one?" The same person asked.

"Yes," Nessie said. "But I can show you better than I can tell you."

There was another pause where someone took in a sharp breath. Some one moved then stopped.

"What's she showing her?" Jake asked after shifting his weight from foot to foot. Oh I guess Nessie is using her gift.

"Everything." Edward murmured.

After a minute or so, the calm vampire started speaking again.

"She really is your daughter, isn't she?" She breathed. "Such a vivid gift! It could only have come from a very gifted father."

Oh great, increase Eddie's ego why don't ya?

"Do you believe what she showed you?" Edward asked.

"Without a doubt."

"Carmen!" Eleazar said sounding horrified.

"Impossible as it seems, Edward has told you nothing but truth. Let the child show you."

I heard him shuffle forward.

"Show him, mi querida."

"Ay caray!" he spat, and jumped away.

"What did she do to you?" Tanya demanded.

"She's just trying to show you her side of the story," Carmen told him in a soothing voice.

"Watch please." She commanded Eleazar. Huh I didn't think she had it in her.

A few moments passed before he spoke.

"Ah," He sighed. "I see now."

"Eleazar?" Tanya asked sounding wary.

"It's all true, Tanya. This is no immortal child. She's half-human. Come. See for yourself."

The three sisters trudged forward and after about 10 minutes of so, they didn't sound as tense. I looked over at Embry and he relaxed too.

"Thank you for listening," Edward said quietly.

"But there is the grave danger you warned us of," Tanya said. "Not directly from this child, I see, but surely from the Volturi, then. How did they find out about her? When are they coming?"

"Well it would be better if you got the story first hand from someone who was there. Thomas? Would you come in here please? Bring Embry with you."

I looked over at Embry who was frowning but shrugged it off. I was closer to the opening to living room so I walked in first. I scanned the room.

I took in the wary looks from the dark haired couple with the Spanish accents. Carmen and Eleazar.

I took in the murderous glare from a female vampire who had her blonde hair in a stylized bun. Irina.

I took in the suspicious look from another female vampire with curly blonde hair. Kate.

Then my eyes locked on to a strawberry blonde and I felt the whole world stop moving. I could feel myself getting lighter as my green eyes got lost in her gold ones. From that moment on I knew I would do everything in my power to protect this woman. I would love her with all my being. I would do everything to make my Tanya happy.

My Tanya.

I like the sound of that.


	21. Family

TANYA POV

I have no idea how long we just stood there looking at each other but I didn't care. I just looked at him, taking in his features. His high cheek bones, his jaw line, his wavy hair, his bronze skin, his full lips.

Mmm.

Down girl.

The most striking part of his face is his eyes which were the most gorgeous shade of green that I've ever seen. He blinked a few times before he shook his head and smiled shyly. He walked over and stuck his hand out.

"Hi." He murmured. "I'm Thomas."

I took his hand and shook it. The second our hands touched I felt an electric spark. We both gasped a little and looked at each other. I was surprised by how hot he was. His body heat was practically scalding.

"Tanya, why are you holding hands with that dog?" I heard my annoying sister Kate ask. I turned to give her an irritated look.

"This _dog_ is my mate." I snapped as I moved closer to Thomas. My shoulder brushed against his arm. "I've felt the pull towards him at Bella and Edward's wedding."

"Is this why you've been miserable? Why didn't you say anything?"

"Yes and I didn't say anything because I didn't want to upset Irina." I turned to her and frowned. She was looking at the third wolf who was just staring at her. I felt Thomas tense up. I looked at his face and he was staring at the two of them with wide eyes.

"Is something wrong?" I asked.

"I'm not sure." He said. "Embry, you alright bro?"

The wolf in question just nodded mutely without taking his eyes off of my sister.

"Thomas I think you need to tell everyone who doesn't know what happened the story." Edward said. "That way they can get a better understanding of the situation."

He shot Edward a grateful look and cleared his throat.

"A few days ago, a few lower members of the guard were in forks." He said. "Bella, Renesmee, and Jacob were hunting and one of their members saw them."

"Why were they here?" Eleazar asked.

"To check on Bella. To make sure that Edward kept his promise."

He turned to Edward.

"Didn't you tell Aro that she was changed?"

"I did. She was going to visit them with Carlisle but then this happened."

"But why would Aro send all these people?"

"He didn't," Thomas said, bringing the attention back to him. "Jane was the one that sent them."

"And you know this how?" Eleazar asked.

"Can't you sense it? My gift?"

Eleazar frowned and stepped towards Thomas.

"May I hold your hand?" He asked and Thomas nodded. He reluctantly let go of my hand offered it to Eleazar. I frowned at the lack of contact between us.

After Eleazar grasped his hand, he frowned in concentration. He did this for a few moments before he spoke.

"I see." He said. "Your gift is similar to the one Alice has. There something more but I can't tell you what it is."

"Is that a bad thing?" Thomas asked sounding wary.

"I'm not sure." He said smiling. "But we'll cross that bridge when it comes. So you saw Jane sending this group here?"

"No. I saw her issuing a few tasks for this group." He explained. "She never said what they were, but she sent them to New York. I had a vision of a vampire named Ivan telling Jane that their task were almost complete."

"How long was the gap between this vision and when they showed up?"

"About a month."

"Who was in this group besides Ivan?"

"Gianna, Alexi, and Afton." He practically spat Afton's name. "Ivan had some business to attend to but the other three were here."

"And what happened?"

"Gianna was the one who saw the Renesmee. Emmett Jasper, myself and my packmate Leah tried to catch her." He said. "Afton and Alexi intercepted us and took us by surprise. After our little...scrap they ran away like cowards. We would've caught them but we lost their scents."

"Did they get to the highway or something?"

"No, one of them was blocking the others scents. I know it wasn't Afton but the other two I wasn't sure about."

"It must be Gianna," Eleazar said. "Alexi is nothing more than another vampire they have for their army. He does nothing special and is nothing special. Just another pawn."

"There's nothing we can do about it now," Edward said. "Alice gave us a month."

Me and Eleazar cocked our heads to the side while the others furrowed their brows.

"So long?" I asked.

"Their bringing everyone not just the guard." Edward said while clenching his teeth. "Aro, Marcus, Caius, even the wives."

"This is impossible." Eleazar murmured, mostly to himself.

"I would've said the samething a few days ago my friend."

"But that doesn't make any sense. Why would they put themselves and the wives in danger?"

"It doesn't make sense from that angle. Alice said there was more to this than just punishment for what they think we've done. She thought you could help us."

"What could be more than that?" Eleazar said as he started pacing.

"Besides the obvious?" Thomas asked. Eleazar stopped pacing to regard him.

"The obvious?"

"How many people in this room posses an ability?"

"Including me and you, six. Those two however," He glanced at the other wolves. "Have alot of potential."

"Potential for what?" The wolf standing by Bella said while narrowing his eyes.

Thomas murmured something in a language that I was not very familiar with. Whatever he said caused the other wolf's expression to soften.

"Forgive him Eleazar," Thomas said. "We're all a little on edge."

"That is understandable."

"Where are the others, Edward? Carlisle and Alice and the rest?" I asked.

"They went to get help." He said. "Gather some of our friends."

"No matter how many people you ask, we can only do one thing for you. And that is fight to the death."

"There will be no fight." Thomas said at the same time Edward said. "That's not what we're asking you to do."

"Then what?"

"We're just looking for witnesses. If we can make them pause, just for a moment. If they would let us explain..." He touched Renesmee's cheek. She grabbed his hand and held it pressed against her skin. "It's difficult to doubt our story when you see it for yourself."

"Is her past that important?"

"Only as it foreshadows her future. The point of the restriction was to protect us from exposure, from the excesses of children who could not be tamed."

"I am not a threat." Renesmee said. "I never hurt Grandpa or Sue or Billy. I love humans. And wolf-people like my Jacob." She dropped Edward's hand to reach back and pat Jacob's arm. The other wolves started snickering until Edward growled at them. I narrowed my eyes at him.

"If they didn't show up when they did, we could have avoided all of this." Thomas mused. "Renesmee grows at an accelerated rate. By the end of the month, she'll have gained at least six months worth of development."

"Well, that is something we can certainly witness," Carmen said in a decided tone. "We'll be able to promise that we've seen her mature ourselves. How could the Volturi ignore such evidence?"

"How indeed?" Eleazar mumbled as he started pacing again.

"Yes, we can witness for you," I said. "Certainly that much. We will consider what more we might do."

"We're not asking for anything more than that." Edward said shaking his head.

"If the Volturi won't pause to listen to our case, we cannot stand by," I insisted. "Of course, I can only speak for myself." I turned to Kate. "What do you say?"

"Do you doubt me so much sister? Do you doubt that I would do nothing?"

"Well it is a suicide mission afterall." I said with a shrug.

"I'm in." She said with a grin.

"I, too, will do what I can to protect the child," Carmen agreed. Then, as if she couldn't resist, she held her arms out toward Renesmee. "May I hold you, bebé linda?"

Renesmee eagerly went into her arms. Carmen told her she was easily the most beautiful child that she ever saw in spanish. I glanced at Irina who was looking shyly at the wolf named Embry. He smiled widely at her.

"Irina?" I called and she glanced at me.

"Yes?"

"What do you say?"

She looked at the ground nervously.

"You don't trust us." Thomas said. It was a statement, not a question.

Irina looked at him with narrowed eyes.

"Of course I don't," She said and I saw Embry's face drop. "Why should I trust you after you killed my friend."

"We told you Irina," Edward said. "He tried to kill Bella."

"I don't buy that." She said. "He wanted a better life. To live in peace with humans."

"Are you calling me a liar?" Edward demanded. "Are you calling my mate a liar?"

Irina didn't say anything but I could tell that she didn't mean to make it sound like that.

"Maybe you should show her," Edward said glancing at Thomas. "Show her what happened."

"Show her?" I said glancing between the two. Thomas smiled at me and took my hand in his.

"I can sort of do something similar to what Renesmee does. I can't do it as often as her and I can only show people my visions."

"What does this have to do with Laurent?" Irina asked.

"I can show you what he tried to do and why."

"How do I know this isn't a trick?"

"You don't." He said with a shrug. "But what have you got to lose?"

Irina looked at the floor for a few moments before nodding her head. Thomas squeezed my hand then walked over to Irina. He paused to murmur something to Embry and he glanced at Edward. Edward inclined his head after a moment.

"I need you to stay perfectly still," He said looking at Irina. "If you move you'll break the connection."

Irina nodded again as Thomas placed both of his hands on each side of her face. Nothing happened for a moment before I saw their eyes glaze over. Both their postures went rigid. Edward snarled and Embry growled. I guess Edward didn't like what he was seeing and Embry was just reacting to that. Strange.

Thomas let go and staggered back. He took in a few shaky breaths. Irina was frozen in her place.

"Did you see all of that?" Thomas said looking at Edward.

Edward just nodded stiffly.

"I told you it would be bad."

Edward didn't say anything.

"Is she okay?"

"She's just trying to process this information."

It took a few minutes before Irina blinked again. I heard Embry let out a breath of relief. Hmm.

"I-I," She paused to clear her throat. "I will stand by you. I just need sometime to myself."

She ran out the front door before either of us could say anything. Thomas looked over at Embry who had a hurt expression on his face.

"I'll be outside." He said dully before he left out the back door. Thomas tried to reach out to him but thought better of it.

"Ok what just happened? Why is my sister going all emo? And what's up with the mutt?" Kate said. The wolf standing by Bella glared at her. The corner of his lip curled up into a sneer.

"Jacob." Thomas warned. The wolf named Jacob gave him a sideways glance. "Now is not the time for this cousin."

"She has no right talking about our brother like that Beta." He snapped. I fought the urge to growl at him for talking to my Thomas like that.

"I know that Alpha, but we need to be calm." Thomas said softly. "They are here to help us. They are our friends."

"Family," I corrected. "We are your family."

Thomas beamed at me before he glanced at Kate with an odd expression. It was somewhere between irritation and bemusement.

"Well Katerina Denali," He said slowly and I heard Kate gasp slightly. While I stared at him with wide eyes. How did he know her full name? "You ask what happened? I just showed your sister what Laurent tried to do when he came back to Forks.

"You ask why she is going emo? She's trying to reevaluate whatever feelings she had for him. It's also even more confusing now that she just found her soulmate. Or is it the other way around?"

He directed that last part towards Edward who shook his head.

"She felt the pull towards him, which, like you said, is making her even more confused."

"Embry?"

"He's hurt."

Thomas rolled his eyes.

"Well thank you Captain obvious," He said sarcastically. "I don't think I could've worked that one out by myself if I didn't have your help."

A small giggle escaped my mouth which did not go unnoticed by the others.

"Wait," Kate said. "That dog is Irina's soulmate?"

"Stop calling them that!" I hissed.

"That's what they are," She said indignantly. "We're supposed to be natural enemies and now you and Irina are mated to two of them? Forgive me if I have trouble wrapping my head around it."

"Regardless of how you feel Kate," Carmen started. "They are your sisters mates and they will be given the respect they deserve." She shifted Renesmee to her right hip and placed her hand on the other one. She narrowed her eyes at Kate. "Am I making myself clear?"

Carmen rarely got upset but when she did, she wasn't someone you wanted to cross. Kate learned that the hard way when she made a tactless comment about Spain. Kate gulped nervously and nodded.

"Fine. I'll try to tone it down," She said. "That is the only promise I can make."

She walked towards Thomas and held her hand out.

"Welcome to the family, little brother." She had trouble sating the words but at least she was trying.

Thomas raised an eyebrow but shook her hand.

"What?" Kate asked.

"Nothing it's just...little brother? I look older than you."

Kate rolled her eyes.

"I'm older than you fido."

"Kate!" Me, Eleazar, and Carmen yelled.

"A Wizard Of Oz Reference? Recounting your exploits old wicked witch of the west?" Thomas said ignoring the rest of us.

"Really? Is that the best you can do?"

"No but I must commend the make up artists of that time." He said leaning in close and examining her face. "If they left you in your natural state, you would have freightened small children, or caused traffic accidents where ever you walked."

The corners of Kate's lip twitched like she was trying to hold back a smile.

"Not bad child, not bad."

"Thanks grandma." Thomas teased. "You know I'm always trying to seek your approval."

"As well you should young man."

Well they got along pretty fast.

Eleazar started pacing again while Kate and Carmen gushed over Renesemee. I felt Thomas lace his fingers with mine. My hand was so small compared to his but they fit together perfectly. I looked up at him and he smiled at me before he looked over at Renesmee.

"This little one is special," I mused. "Very hard to resist."

"A very talented family," Eleazar murmured as he paced."A mind reader for a father, a shield for a mother, and then whatever magic this extraordinary child has bewitched us with. I wonder if there is a name for what she does, or if it is the norm for a vampire hybrid. As if such a thing could ever be considered normal! A vampire hybrid, indeed!"

"Tactile thought projection." Thomas said while Edward asked, "What did you just call my wife?"

I looked at Thomas questioningly as Eleazar stopped pacing to regard the both of them.

"A shield, I think. She's blocking me now, so I can't be sure." Eleazar answered then he asked Thomas. "Tactile thought projection?"

"Yes I uh sort came up with the name after doing some research." Thomas answered a bit shyly and I smiled at him. He had nothing to be shy about.

"Indeed?" Eleazar asked with a smile on his face. Never in his existence has he met someone who could identify abilities. Well, by merely doing research I mean.

"A shield you say?" Edward said.

"Come now, Edward! If I can't get a read on her, I doubt you can, either. Can you hear her thoughts right now?" Eleazar asked turning his attention to Edward.

Thomas threw his head back and burst into laughter. His laughter echoed throughout the house. I must admit, it was a very pleasant sound but I was confused as to why he was laughing. After he calmed down he looked over at Edward.

"You never told anyone that you couldn't read her mind?"

"No." Edward grumbled.

"Oh I guess you didn't want word to get around that the great Edward Cullen was incapable of doing something." He teased and Edward rolled his eyes.

"Interesting," Eleazar mused. "That would indicate a rather powerful latent talent, if it was manifesting so clearly even before the transformation. I can't feel a way through her shield to get a sense of it at all. She must still be raw, she's only a few months old."

"It could be genetic," Thomas suggested. "I mean mine is. My mother's gift is not as strong as mine but it's powerful enough." He glanced at Edward. "You said you had trouble reading Charlie right?"

"From time to time."

"I think that if, and I do mean_ if_," He said giving Bella and Jacob a pointed look. "Charlie were to become a vampire, he would be a shield as well, just not as strong as Bella."

"That's possible. No one ever conducted a study and I've never encountered someone like Bella who was this strong." Eleazar said. He tilted his head to the side as if to examine her. He gave Edward something that resembled an exasperated expression. "And someone who is apparently unaware of what they're doing. Totally unconscious. Ironic. Aro sent me all over the world searching for such anomalies, and you simply stumble across it by accident and don't even realize what you have." Eleazar shook his head in disbelief.

Bella frowned.

"What are you talking about? How can I be a shield? What does that even mean?" She said.

"I suppose we are overly formal when we rank things like this." Eleazar said. "Truthfully, categorizing talents is a subjective, haphazard business; every talent is unique, never exactly the same thing twice. Thomas and Alice are great examples." He glanced over at Thomas with a smile. "But you, Bella, are fairly easy to classify. Talents that are purely defensive, that protect some aspect of the bearer, are always called shields. Have you ever tested your abilities? Blocked anyone besides me and your mate?"

"It only works with certain things," She told him. "My head is sort of...private. But it doesn't stop Jasper from being able to mess with my mood or Alice from seeing my future."

"Purely a mental defense." Eleazar nodded to himself. "Limited, but strong."

"Very strong." Thomas interjected.

"Aro couldn't read her." Edward added. "She was human at the time though."

Eleazar's mouth hung open as did the rest of my coven.

"Jane tried to hurt me, but she couldn't," Bella said. "Edward thinks Demetri can't find me, and that Alec can't bother me, either. Is that good?"

"Are you kidding?" Thomas said incredoulusly. "That's a great thing! If you could only cover other people."

The second he said that his whole body went stiff and his eyes glazed over.

"Is he okay?" I said without taking my eyes off of him.

"He's having a vision." Edward said. "What he's seeing is a good thing...I think."

After a minute or so, Thomas blinked and shook his head.

"Well that was interesting."

"What did you see?" Jacob asked.

"Bella," He said looking at her. "Well it was in her POV. She was protecting us all."

"I'm going to fight?" She asked. She sounded slightly hopeful. Edward looked horrified.

"No," He said shaking his head looking at her strangely. "You'll, what's the word here, project your sheild. You'll be able to block others."

"How?"

"You practice." He said it as if it should have been very obvious.

"Well how?"

"You practice with some of the vampires that come here. They have mental gifts that could be used offensively."

"Kate can help in the mean time right?" Edward asked her and she shrugged.

"Sure."

At the questioning look from Bella, Edward explained.

"Kate's got an offensive skill," Edward said. "Kind of like Jane."

Thomas snorted and Bella flinched away from Kate.

"Now Bella and Kate will be the best of friends. Way to go mind reader." Thomas quipped.

"I meant her gift, not her personality." Edward retorted.

"But you didn't say that now did you?" Thomas countered.

Edward narrowed his eyes but said nothing else.

"Don't worry I'm not sadistic about it," Kate said with a laugh. "It's just something that comes in handy when I wanna fight."

"You have to teach me what to do!" Bella insisted grabbing Kate's arm. "You have to show me how!"

Thomas stepped forward when Kate winced.

"I'll teach you, if you stop crushing my arm."

"Oh god I'm sorry!"

"Well, you're projecting alright," Kate said rubbing her arm. " That current should have shocked your arm off."

"She didn't mean any harm Kate," Edward grumbled. "There was no need for that."

They both ignored him.

"Current? No I didn't feel anything," Bella told Kate. "Were you projecting?"

"I was." Kate said looking slightly put out. "Hmm. I've never met anyone who couldn't feel it, immortal or otherwise."

"You can only project in on your skin?" Bella asked amd Kate nodded.

"Before I could only use my palms like Aro,"

"Or Renesmee." Edward interjected and Thomas hissed softly.

"Stop interrupting Eddie boy." He said.

"After alot of practice," Kate went on as if nothing had happened. "I learned to radiate it all over my body. It's a great defense. Anyone who tries to touch me drops to the ground like a human who get's tasered. They don't stay down for long, but it's enough for me to finish them."

Bella went silent and Edward focused his gaze on Eleazar.

"Can't you think of one exception my friend?"

They both gazed at each other. Edward's face was tight with suspicion. Eleazar's face was unhappy and reluctant.

"I don't want to think of them like that." Eleazar spat through his teeth. I frowned, what is going on? "If you're right-"

"The thought was yours my friend," Edward reminded him gently. "Not mine."

"If I'm right...I can't even grasp what that would mean. It would change everything about the world we've created. It would change the meaning of my life. All of our lives. What I have been a part of."

"Your intentions were always the best Eleazar."

Me and Thomas moved closer to them.

"Does that even mean anything?" He said. "What have I done? How many lives..."

I placed a hand on Eleazar's shoulder.

"What did we miss, my friend? I wish to know so that I can argue with these thoughts." I told him "You've never done anything worth castigating yourself this way."

"Oh haven't I?" He muttered. He shrugged my hand off and began pacing again. I watched him for half a second then turned to Edward.

"Explain."

He nodded while still eyeing Eleazar.

"He's trying to understand why so many of the Volturi would come to punish us. It's not the way they should do things. Certainly, we are the biggest mature coven they've dealt with, but in the past other covens have joined to protect themselves, and they never presented much of a challenge despite their numbers. We are more closely bonded, and that's a factor, but not a huge one.

"He was remembering other times that covens have been punished, for one thing or the other, and a pattern occurred to him. It was a pattern that the rest of the guard would never have noticed, since Eleazar was the one passing the pertinent intelligence privately to Aro. A pattern that only repeated every other century or so."

"What was this pattern?" Carmen asked. She was watching Eleazar like Edward was.

"That certain members of these covens were gifted," Thomas said. "Destruction and acquisition."

"Correct," Edward said with a nod. "Aro does not often personally attend a punishing expedition," Edward said. "But in the past, when Aro wanted something in particular, it was never long before evidence turned up proving that this coven or that coven had committed some unpardonable crime.**"**

"Which they were probably framed for." Thomas cut in and Edward nodded.

"That is possible," He said. "Anyway, the ancients would decide to go along to watch the guard administer justice. And then, once the coven was all but destroyed, Aro would grant a pardon to one member whose thoughts, he would claim, were particularly repentant. Always, it would turn out that this vampire had the gift Aro had admired. Always, this person was given a place with the guard. The gifted vampire was won over quickly, always so grateful for the honor. There were no exceptions."

"Cowards," Jacob grumbled. "Their coven was just destroyed by the Volturi, and then they join them like it was nothing?"

"It's not that simple Jacob," Thomas said. "Something tells me that these vampires weren't in the right state of mind when these offers were made."

"Still," Kate said. "Being apart of the guard must be an honor."

"Bah!" Eleazar snarled.

"Thomas makes a fair point. There is one among the gaurd who has influence over the emotional ties between people," Edward said, explaining Eleazar's reaction. "Her name is Chelsea, she can either loosen or strengthen these ties. She could make someone feel bonded to the Volturi, to want to belong, to want to please them. . . ."

Eleazar came to an abrupt halt.

"We all understood why Chelsea was important. In a fight, if we could separate allegiances between allied covens, we could defeat them that much more easily. If we could distance the innocent members of a coven emotionally from the guilty, justice could be done without unnecessary brutality, the guilty could be punished without interference, and the innocent could be spared." He explained. "Otherwise it would impossible to keep the coven from fighting as a whole. Chelsea would break the ties that bound them together. It seemed like a great kindness to me, evidence of Aro's mercy. I did suspect that Chelsea kept our own band more tightly knit, but that too, was a good thing. It made us more effective. It helped us coexist more easily."

After he was finished, a terrible thought occured to me.

"How strong is her gift?" I asked glancing at everyone and squeezing Thomas' hand. He rubbed soothing circles on the back of my hand with his thumb. He leaned forward and whispered in my ear.

"I don't think she can break our bond honey girl," He said. "It would be next to impossible."

A shiver went up my spine when he called me honey girl. It felt great but I didn't know where he came with that name. I raised an eyebrow at him but he shook his head.

_Later._ He mouthed.

"Yes that's true," Eleazar said bringing my attention back to him. "Anything weaker than the bond between partners is in danger. In a normal coven, at least. That's how I was able to leave with Carmen." He paused as if considering how to word something. "But those were weaker bonds than those we have in our family, though. Abstaining from human blood makes us more civilized, lets us form true bonds of love. I doubt she could turn our allegiances, Tanya."

He smiled at me and I smiled back.

"I could only think that the reason Aro had decided to come himself, to bring so many with him, is because his goal is not punishment but acquisition," Eleazar said continuing his analysis. "He needs to be there to control the situation. But he needs the entire guard for protection from such a large, gifted coven. On the other hand, that leaves the other ancients unprotected in Volterra. It's too risky, someone might try to take advantage. So they all come together. How else could he be sure to preserve the gifts that he wants? He must want them very badly," He mused.

"Of course he does," Thomas murmured. "To be able to read minds from a distance, and knowing the future? Who wouldn't want that?"

Edward nodded.

"Last time I was in his head," He said. "I saw that he's never wanted anything more than he wants Alice."

Bella's mouth fell open.

"Is that why Alice left?"

Her voice cracked a little when she asked this question.

"I think it must be the reason," Edward said putting his hand to her cheek. "To keep Aro from gaining the thing he wants most of all. To keep her power out of his hands."

I frowned. I thought she just went to get help, I didn't realize that she just left. I caught Kate's eyes and I could tell she was thinking the same thing.

"He wants you too." Bella whispered to Edward. He shrugged.

"Not nearly as much. I can't really give him anything more than he already has. And of course that's dependent on his finding a way to force me to do his will. He knows me, and he knows how unlikely that is."

"He knows your weaknesses though," Eleazar said frowning at his nonchalance before looking at Bella.

"We don't need to talk about this right now." Edward said quickly.

"He must want your mate too," Eleazar said ignoring Edward. "He would be interested in a gift that could block him even when the person was human."

Edward looked uncomfortable so he changed the subject.

"I think the Volturi were waiting for this, for some pretext. They couldn't know what form their excuse would come in, but the plan was already in place for when it did come. That's why Alice saw their decision before that group triggered it. The decision was already made, just waiting for the pretense of a justification."

"If the Volturi are abusing their power..." Carmen murmured.

"It doesn't matter," Eleazar said. "Who would believe such a thing? And even if others could be convinced that the Volturi are exploiting their power, how would it make any difference? No one can stand against them."

"Yet there are those that are crazy enough to try." Kate muttered.

"You are only here to witness Kate," Edward said shaking his head. "Whatever Aro's goal is, I don't think he's ready to tarnish the Volturi's reputation for it. If we can take away his argument against us, he'll be forced to leave us in peace."

"Of course." I murmured while Thomas snorted, but didn't say anything.

None of us looked convinced. I could hear a car on the highway heading up our path.

"Crap, Charlie," Bella muttered. "Maybe the Denalis could hang out upstairs-"

"No," Edward said while Thomas said. "It's not your father."

"Jasper and Alce sent Peter and Charlotte."

"You need to get into positions," Thomas said. "But we'll be alright. They'll join us."

"Why should we trust them?" Jacob demanded with a scowl.

"They're here to help cousin," Thomas said. "Alice and Jasper trust them, and I trust Alice and Jasper so-"

"And right now I don't trust any of them," Jacob snapped, cutting Thomnas off. "I don't trust anything or anyone those two cowards send our way."

A low growl rumbled in Thomas' throat. I looked up at him and I almost gasped when I saw that his green eyes were now amber. He let go of my hand and bared his teeth, which now looked like wolf fangs.

"Watch what you say _cousin_," He spat. His voice was deeper than before. "Or I might do something you won't like."

Jacob's eyes darkened and started bearing his teeth.

"Now is not the time-" Edward tried to say but was cut off by Jacob.

"Why are you defending them?" He growled. "They abandoned us! Do you not remember what you looked like after you found out they left? How you felt?"

Thomas threw his arm in front of me and lightly pushed me behind him.

"Of course I do." He said gnashing his teeth together.

"Then why are you defending those cowards?"

"Call them that one more time Jacob," He threatend in a deadly calm voice. "I dare you."

"They. Are. Cowards."

Faster than anyone of us could blink, Thomas flashed over to Jacob. He wrapped his right hand around Jacob's throat, and slammed him into the wall, sucessfully pinning him there. Thomas held Jacob's right hand when he tried to hit him. Thomas leaned in close so their noses were almost touching.

"I will say this once and only once," Thomas said in a cold voice that rocked me to the core. "No one and I mean _no one_, will disrespect Mary Alice Brandon or Major Jasper Whitlock in front of me. Anyone who even _thinks_ of doing it will have hell to pay," He sneered. "Trust me Jacob, you do not want to aggravate me right now. We have too many vampires coming and this is the last thing we need."

He let go of Jacob who started rubbing his throat while coughing.

"If you cannot deal with that Alpha, I strongly suggest you wait outside," He said after Jacob caught his breath. "Because if you cannot control yourself, we," He motioned to all of us. "Won't have to deal with a bunch of human drinkers, but an overgrown puppy with a temper tantrum. Like I said, it was just a suggestion, after all you are the leader."

Jacob scowled at Thomas but didn't say anything. He just glared at the floor after a moment. We could hear the car pull up in the drive way. Thomas looked at me and smiled sadly.

_I'm sorry._ he mouthed. He looked at the door before I could tell him that he had nothing to be sorry for. Two car doors opened then closed, and I could hear two sets of foot steps.

"Showtime." Edward murmured as he went to open the door. Let's see how this plays out.


	22. Trading Information

**AUTHORS NOTE**

**Took me forever to write this chapter but I hope you enjoy it none the less. There are a few parts that are NSFW but it's not a full blown lemon. It would be kind of wrong for Tanya and T.J. to do the nasty with everything happening right? Anyways, let me know what you think.**

**- Capt. Hazard.**

* * *

><p>T.J. POV<p>

How could I have been so stupid? Why did I do that? Why did I almost strangle my cousin in front of Tanya? She must be scared of me.

_She's not,_ I heard a voice say in my head. Great now I'm hearing things. _Now straighten up and stop acting like Edward. You are not an over emotional, over protective ass hat who thinks that the woman you love despises you because you pinned Jacob to a wall. _

I just ignored the voice so I could focus on the task at hand.

Carmen handed Nessie back to Bella and the others headed to other parts of the house except Tanya. She came to stand next to me.

"I want to talk to you after this is done." She murmured and I nodded. Not entirely sure about what I should say.

_It won't be anything bad,_ the voice said and I ignored it.

_That's not going to work buddy._

Edward opened the front door and said.

"Hello Peter, Charlotte."

"Edward." They said. "Alice said you needed a hand with something, what's going on?" Peter asked.

Straight to the point, I like it.

"Why don't you come in?" Edward said. Wait, what happened to what he did with the Denali's?

Before I could say anything, he let them in. Peter was around the same height as Jasper, 6'2, and he had mousy brown hair, a pointed nose, and a strong jawline. Charlotte had pixie like features like Alice except her har was slightly longer and it didn't go in different directions. I guess Whitlock men have a thing for pixies.

Their eyes zeroed in on Renesmee and they froze.

"Why do you have a human child here?" Peter whispered.

"Does she smell human?" Edward asked.

They both frowned and sniffed the air. They grimaced.

"Kinda hard to tell with them here," Peter said jerking his chin towards us. A soft growl escaped Jacob's mouth. I shot him a warning look. "But she smells different, not human but not vampire. What is she?" Charlotte asked as if nothing happened.

"She is my daughter," Edward replied. "She was concieved when my mate," He gestured towards Bella. "Was still human. She is a hybrid, half human half vampire."

They both looked at him like he was an alien.

"Edward that's not-" Peter tried to say.

"Possible?" Edward said. "Three months ago I would have said the same thing. Look at her Peter, don't you see the resemblence?" They both looked at Nessie.

"She has your face," Charlotte said. "But the eyes," She glanced at Bella. "They must be yours."

Bella nodded mutely.

"Would you like to hear her explanation?" Edward asked. Again, they looked at him oddly. "Her gift." He clarified. "She has a way showing people things."

They both looked at each other, before nodding. Edward motioned for Bella to join him. Jacob tried to follow but I blocked his path with my left arm. At his narrowed eyes I just shook my head. I told him in Quileute that he should wait until they were done. He shook his head vigorously and said he needed to be close. I replied that his instincts would cause him to phase and he could hurt Nessie.

We were so engrossed in our conversation that I didn't notice the others were watching us until Tanya grabbed my hand.

"They're finished." She said. I smiled my thanks and turned to Peter and Charlotte who were sizing me up. I squeezed Tanya's hand and stepped forward. I held my hand out.

"Thomas Matthews." I said. They stared at my hand before Peter took it.

"Peter Whitlock," He drawled. "This is my wife Charlotte."

"I know," I said offering my hand to Charlotte. "Jasper's spoke very highly of you two. If he trusts you, I trust you."

"Like wise," Charlotte said with a smile before she shook my hand. "On both counts."

"So you believe Nessie's story?" I already knew the answer but I just wanted Jacob to hear since we were talking when they were. Bella hissed softly but said nothing. Peter and Charlotte cocked their heads to the side.

"Nessie?" They asked.

"The child." I explained. "It's her nickname."

"No it's not," Bella muttered.

I turned around to raise and eyebrow at her.

"Why are you so against it?"

"Because my baby is not a sea serpent." She complained. For a second there I thought she was going to stamp her foot like a small child. But I was glad she didn't because she would have stomped a hole in the floor.

"It's not exactly your decision." I told her.

"I'm her mother." She insisted.

"And?" I challanged. "What nickname your daughter has is her choice not yours. You know what? Let's ask her."

I looked at Nessie.

"What do you say little one?" I said. "Do you like your nickname?"

She nodded her head.

"Oh yes."

"That settles it then."

"No it doesn't." Bella said firmly.

"Well when you come up with something better, we'll try it out," I said. "I would avoid using Ren or Renny because the latter sounds too close to your moms name, and the former reminds me of Footloose with Kevin Bacon."

I turned back to Peter and Charlotte.

"Any questions?" I asked and they shook their heads. "You seem to be taking this well."

"Well, we know of the law that forbids vampires from creating vampire children," Peter said. "But we have never seen one before so we didn't how to react. Now that we know the story, we'll help."

I nodded and before I could say any more I felt Tanya lace her fingers with mine. I looked at her and smiled.

"Well if you two have any question's feel free to ask." I told them. They nodded.

"Oh wait," Peter said as we turned to leave. He pulled out a slip of paper and handed it to me. I opened it and it had one word written on it: **Dacia**. I frowned in confusion.

"I have a feeling you'll need information on that," Peter said. "Don't know why, but you will."

I nodded. Jasper told me that he thought Peter had a gift even though Peter didn't believe it. Peter always had these weird feelings, almost like another sense telling him when things would happen. He didn't know what to make of it but he never questioned it.

"I'll look into it when I can." I told him and he nodded. I looked at Tanya and nodded my head towards the back door.

"I know a place where we can talk." I said and she nodded.

I let her walk in front of me. My eyes looked over her form. First her shoulders, her back, her hips, and then her as-

_Stop!_ I chided myself.

_It's only natural._

_Get out of my head._

_I'm apart of you now. Have been since you laid eyes on that lovely lady there_.

I ignored it again and followed Tanya. I sincerely hope I'm not going crazy.

EMBRY POV

Never in my life would I have thought I would turn into a giant furball. Never in my life would I have thought that vampires were real. Never in my life would I have thought that I would find my soulmate in a vampire. A freaking hot vampire I might add. One who...doesn't even trust me. All because of some fucking lee-I mean vampire friend of hers we killed.

I remembered what vampire she was talking about. He had blood red eyes, dreadlocks, a goatee, and an accent. It was french...I think. I wonder if they were close? I shook my head and growled at the thought. If he ever laid hands on her...

"Embry?" I heard someone say. I turned to look at who called me and it was Irina. She was looking at me timidly. "It is Embry right?"

I nodded my head.

"It's Irina right?" I asked and she nodded.

"Nice weather today huh?" I asked. The weather? You're asking her about the weather? This is Forks for crying out loud! There is hardly any _nice_ weather, especially during winter!

"Yes." She said nodding her head and looking up at the clouds. At least she didn't call me an idiot.

Silence descended on us. We just stared shyly at each other. I was going to speak but then I remembered that she said she didn't trust us, so I kept my mouth shut. I looked at the ground.

"I'll just leave you alone," I mumbled despite the fact that it hurt to leave her.

"Wait!" She yelled as she grabbed my arm I felt a spark of electricity go through my body. I stared into her golden eyes for a moment. There was sadness laced in them. "I'm sorry." She said.

I couldn't stop myself from placing my left hand on the side of her face.

"Sorry about what?" I asked. She closed her eyes and leaned in to my hand before answering.

"About hurting you." She said. When I tried to protest, she continued. "Don't lie. I saw the look in your eyes when I said those things back at the house."

I didn't say anything.

"I thought I loved him." She said after a moment. When she saw the frown on my face she kept talking. "Hear me out." She told me. "He was very charming when I first met him. We had so much in common. He was very interested in our lifestyle and I honestly thought he was the one."

She paused and frowned thoughtfully.

"I think I was very desperate," She said. "I've been around for a very long time. I've been very lonely for a long time so I was confused when I laid eyes on you."

I inhaled a sharp breath. Part of me said to run but another part told me to listen.

"It hurts feeling like this," she said. I would've bolted right there but she grabbed my hand. "I didn't mean it like that!" She cried when she saw my horrified expression. "It's just-argh! I meant part of me wants to hate you but another part loves you. You are my mate and I-I don't wanna lose you. I'm sorry that I just took off like that."

She looked like she wanted to cry, and before I could stop myself, I kissed her.

She tensed the second my lips touched hers. I thought she was gonna push me away but she started kissing me back. She was running both hands through my hair while I placed mine on her hips. It was amazing. I didn't know how long we kissed but it was long enough for me to forget how to breath. I pulled away gasping for air.

"Sorry," She said looking sheepish. "I forgot that you needed to breath."

I shook my head and smiled.

"It's fine," I said. I was gonna kiss her again, but a thought occured to me. "What does this mean for us?"

"What do you mean?"

"Are we...together?"

She sighed and instead of talking, she pulled me into a kiss. It was short but sweet. After we pulled apart, she smiled.

"Does that answer your question?" She said and I nodded. "I didn't catch your last name."

I pulled her closer and said as she wrapped her arms around my neck. "Call. My last name is Call. What's yours?"

"Denali."

"Denali?"

"After the national park in Alaska," She explained. "We've lived there for centuries, so we took Denali as our surname in tribute."

I just nodded.

"Um do you wanna go back?" I asked and she shook her head.

"We should get to know each other a little better." She said. I smiled and nodded.

"Sure."

TANYA POV

Thomas lead me to a tree that he said he would sleep under when he helped protect the Cullens. I asked him what he was protecting them from and he said he would tell me in due time. I was interested to learn more about him, besides how his gift works and such, but this story really piqued my interest. When we got to the tree, he started rubbing the back of his head.

"I didn't think this through." He murmured to himself.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well," He started. "It's just...where do you wanna sit?"

A very dirty thought sprung to my mind when he said that. I shook my head slightly to clear it.

"Why don't you sit down first." I told him. He nodded and sat down.

I walked over to him and sat right down next to him, snuggling close as he wrapped his arm around me.

"So what did you want to talk about?" He asked as he his fingers through my hair with his free hand. I sighed contently.

"Well I wanted to get to know you," I started. "I also wanted to tell you that it was foolish to apologize for what you did in there."

He smiled sheepishly at me.

"I know but I thought you would be afraid of me," He said. "I didn't want you thinking I was crazy or something."

I narrowed my eyes at him.

"I will admit that what you did took me by surprise," I said. "Especially when you moved at vampire speed." He frowned when I said that. "But you were defending your friends. That's nothing to be ashamed about."

"I guess not," He said sighing. " I get where Jacob's coming from too, but I don't like it when people insult my friends or family."

I nodded, I felt the same way.

"So why did you have to protect the Cullens? And from whom or what did you protect them from?" I asked.

He sighed.

"I need you to promise me that you'll try not to judge the people I mention too harshly," He said seriously. "The people involved were just scared and didn't know what to do."

I nodded feeling slightly worried as to where this was going.

"Ok, well the Cullens and the members of our tribe have a very...touchy history." He said slowly, as if he was trying figure out how to word things correctly. "Vampires are a very sore subject with my people." When he noticed my frown he added quickly. "I meant traditional vampires. One nearly destroyed our village and we've been on edge ever since."

"So where do the Cullens come into this?" I asked.

"My great grandfather Ephraim Black, and the members of his pack had a small confrontation with them some time ago," He explained. "The others wanted to fight when Carlisle wanted to talk but Ephraim let him speak. Part of it was his curiousity to listen to the cold one with yellow eyes," He laughed softly. "Another part was because he realized that this large group of vampires outnumbered them but chose to be peaceful."

"How many were there in this pack?" I asked.

"Three." Was his reply.

"That's not a pack." I said frowning and he barked out a laugh.

"No I suppose not, but that's what intrigued him," He said after he calmed down, although he was slightly hesitant when he said this. "After speaking with Carlisle, he agreed to a truce. They spent an hour laying out the boundry lines. They spent another hour drawing up a treaty, which states that neither side is allowed to cross into their territory, despite the fact that Carlisle had no problem with them hunting on his side of the line. It also states that the Cullens are not allowed to bite any humans. Bite not kill."

"But Bella-"

"I'm getting there honey girl," He said running his fingers alongside my face. His body heat felt great against my skin. "Be patient." He chuckled.

"Anyway, over the generations my tribe has harbored ill feelings towards the Cullens," He said after a moment. "None more than this generation maybe. My cousin Sam was the first of us to change."

"Change?" I asked. "How?"

"Well, in the presence of vampires the wolf gene activates and we change."

"I thought werewolves had to be bitten or have both werewolves as parents to change?" I asked. He eyed me warily.

"That's not how we do it," He frowned. "But I guess we're not your conventional werewolves."

"You should speak with Carlisle," I told him. "He doesn't know everything but I'm sure he knows enough."

"I will," He said with a smile. "Shall I continue?" He asked and I nodded.

"Sam was alone," He said and I frowned. "Two weeks all by himself and he thought he was losing his mind. It's a good thing he phased back and the elders found him."

"Elders?" I asked.

"Our tribal council," He said. "It consists of William Black, we call him Billy, he's Jacob's dad. There's Quil Ateara the third, we call him old Quil, he's Quil Ateara the fifth's grandfather and Jacob's great uncle. Then there's Sue Clearwater who took up the role after her husband Harry had a heart attack."

"I'm sorry." I said.

"Harry was a good man but he didn't take care of himself," He said sadly. "If there's anyone I feel bad for it's his daughter Leah."

"Why?"

"She phased right in front of him and that's when he had his heart attack," He said. "Sue and Harry were arguing and Leah was upset that they were fighting because Harry was getting more stressed." He paused and I noticed his eyes were getting a little moist. "She was so angry and scared at what was happening. After her dad passed her brother Seth phased right after. I mean right after, they were both in their living room as wolves."

He started blinking back tears so I crawled into his lap and hugged him. He wrapped his massive arms around me and buried his face in my neck.

"I couldn't save him," He murmured sadly. His voice was slightly muffled but I understood him perfectly. "By the time I had a vision about it, I didn't have enough time to get there."

"What could you have done?" I asked softly. He shrugged slightly.

"Anything," He said. "Harry was a good man he didn't need to die."

I didn't say anything for a moment, I just rubbed his back.

"Did you speak to Leah about this?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't have a death wish."

I frowned and leaned away from him. I placed my hands on either side of his face so I could look him in the eye.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" I asked raising an eyebrow. He shrugged.

"Leah hates it when people pity her," He said. "If I said anything like that she would either scowl at me, insult me, or punch me. Depends on what I say and how I say it."

My eye twitched at this revelation.

"I would like to see her try." I growled.

"She already has," He said off handedly. His eyes widened as did mine. I hissed loudly and he gripped my hips.

"Forget I said anything." He said anxiously.

"When?" I said clenching my teeth.

"Huh?"

"When?" I spat. "When did she do this?"

He swallowed nervously and tightened his grip on my hips.

"I deserved it," He said and I frowned. What could he have done to deserve this? "I was trying to convince her that I had a gift and I sort of pissed her off. I was able to convince her that I did and she apologized for hitting me."

My gaze soften slightly.

"She better not do it again," I grumbled. "Or she will answer to me."

"Don't worry," He said smiling. "Like I said, I don't have a death wish."

He looked down at his hands and a light blush graced his cheeks. He loosened his grip.

"Sorry." He murmured.

"For what?"

"Er you don't think this is a compromising position?" He asked looking between us. I looked down and would've blushed if I could have. I didn't realize that I had straddled his waist and with his hands around my hips. It was very compromising.

I got off but I sat beside him and snuggled close while he wrapped his arm around me.

"So do you want to hear the rest of the story?" He asked and I nodded.

"Well after they explained what happened to him," He said. "He learned to control himself as best he could so he could wait for the others.

"Jared and Paul were next and Sam became Alpha of the three of them."

"Like your great grandfather." I said and he nodded.

"Exactly. Embry was next, then Jacob. Leah and Seth followed along with Quil. Brady, Collin, and I were the recent additions. Well, at the time."

"There's more now?" I asked.

"There will be," He said. "With all the vampires coming, there will be more wolves."

"I'm sorry."

"You don't need to apologize," He told me softly. "It was bound to happen. So Sam waited for us," He went on with the story. "Especially Jacob."

"Why Jacob?" I asked looking up at him.

"Remember when I said that our great grandfather was Alpha?" He asked I nodded.

"Well leadership for us is dictated by blood," He said. "Jacob was supposed to be Alpha at the time but he refused. So he and Sam agreed to let him be second or Beta as it's called."

"Why didn't he want it?" I asked. I would imagine something like this would be considered a great honor.

"Jacob was a none believer," He said with a sigh. "Alot of us were that way. Our legends were thought to be just that, legends. Who knew there a manual on how to be a wolf." He chuckled softly before continuing. "You have to understand Jacob was pretty care free, hardly got angry, and then one day bam he became a giant furball. How was a 16 year old supposed to feel?"

"Wait, he's 16?"

"Yep." He said with a nod. "Forever 16 despite the fact that he looks older."

"Much older," I murmured and then a thought hit me. "How old are you?"

"18," He said with a small smirk. "Don't worry honey girl, you're not robbing the cradle."

I laughed softly as he pulled me closer.

"He became bitter," He said with a frown. "He was very angry. He hated what he became. The only bright spot for him was Bella."

At my questioning look, he continued.

"I won't tell you everything about what happened with Bella and Edward," He said. "But they had a few...rocky moments. The biggest was probably her 18th birthday. Bella was trying to open a birthday card and she ended up with a paper cut."

He paused.

"It was a small amout of blood, but it was enough for...Jasper to lose control," He said. "He tried to attack Bella, but Edward pushed her out of the way, which only made it worse. She got even more injuries and most of the Cullens had to leave the house while Carlisle patched her up.

"Edward avoided Bella for about a week after that happened. Then, one day, he was at her house and he asked her to follow him into the forest."

His voice was hard like steel when he said this.

"He lead her there to try and convince her that she should stay while he and the family left," He hissed. "He said it was best for her and he even went so far as to lie to her about their relationship."

"What do you mean?" I asked hesitantly.

He looked at me in the eyes and I noticed they were flickering between amber and green.

"He told her that he just used her and that he didn't love her," He spat. "He wanted her to forget him. He hid all the presents she got from them, 'It'll be like I never existed' he told her. What a crock!"

"So what happened next?"

If it was possible his voice became even harder and his eyes were now amber.

"He left," He said. "He didn't even bother to take her back to her house. When he left she tried to follow but she got lost. She was there for hours until Sam found her. She was zombie after that, she had nightmares all because he decided that it was best to leave. Bah!

"Remember when I said that Jacob's bright spot was Bella?" He asked me softly and I nodded. "Well he was Bella's bright spot too. His change was delayed because they were hanging out. Their friendship made him very happy. After he changed they couldn't be friends anymore."

"Why?"

"Nobody is allowed to know about our existence," He explained. "So Jacob had to end his friendship with her. But what the others didn't know was Jacob told Bella a small amount of information on us the year before. She put two and two together, and they were able to be friends. Unfortunately with Bella's luck she had to deal with a very gifted vampire dead set on revenge against Edward. See, her mate tried to kill Bella the year before but the Cullens got rid of him. After that Victoria wanted to kill Bella. A mate for a mate."

"Edward left Bella unprotected?" I hissed. "Some soulmate!" How dare he just leave her?

"Don't ask me for the logic behind Edward's reason," He said with a shrug. "I doubt there was any to begin with."

"The family supported this decision?" I asked. "They came to visit us around the same time I believe but they didn't say why they left Forks."

"Edward lied to them too," He said. "He told them that Bella wanted nothing to do with them and convinced them to leave her alone."

"And they bought it?" I asked and he shrugged.

"I guess the golden child never lied to them before," He said. "But from what I understand, the family was broken. Except maybe Rosalie."

"Yes," I said nodding. "They weren't themsleves when they came to visit us."

"Anyway," He said. "Even after she continued her friendship with Jacob, it just wasn't the same. She tried very reckless things, the most reckless being her jumping of a cliff."

"What!" I shrieked. "Is she insane? How high was the drop?"

"About a hundred feet," He said with a shrug. "Most people go on the baby jump."

Hundred feet? Baby jump? It sounds like he speaks from experience. I narrowed my eyes.

"Have you jumped off a cliff?" I asked in a forced calm voice.

"Why?" He asked eyeing me strangely.

"Answer the question."

"A few times." He said shyly and my eyes widened. "It's a lot of fun."

"Fun!" I hissed. "You could've died!"

"I'm a fast healer!"

"That's beside the point!"

"Look!" He said cupping my face. "It's happened and it will probably keep happening. It's a bonding thing between us."

I stared in his eyes and he there was no deception in them. I sighed.

"Fine," I grumbled. "But could you do it less?"

"For you?" He smirked. "Anything."

And he kissed me on the cheek.

"So you wanna hear the rest of the story?" He asked and I nodded mutely slightly dazed from the kiss.

"Well if tou thought it couldn't get any worse, you were wrong," He said. "See Bella didn't check the weather reports that day and didn't realize that a storm was rolling in."

I groaned. How much bad luck could someone have?

"So when she jumped, she wasn't prepared for the strong current," He told me. "She almost drowned but Jacob got to her just in time. Which is a good thing because Victoria was in the water."

I groaned again.

"That day Alice came back," He said softly. "She had a vision about Bella jumping and thought she commited suicide."

"She didn't see Jacob pull Bella out of the water?" I asked with a frown and he shook his head.

"She can't see the wolves, except me," He said. "We have no idea why, but she does."

"Interesting." I mused.

"Well I guess you can imagine her surprise when she sees Bella alive and well," He went on. "Bella was happy to see her but Jacob wasn't. See he held on to the old predjudice that our species have."

He paused and grimaced like what he was going to say was bad.

"Rosalie called Edward and told him about the vision Alice had," He said and I gasped softly. "Edward called the house pretending to be Carlisle. He was trying to reach Charlie but Jacob answered. When he asked where Charlie was my idiot cousin told him he was planning a funeral. Only he didn't specify that it was Harry Clearwater's funeral."

"So Edward thought it was Bella's funeral," I whispered and he nodded grimly.

"Edward was so distraught that he wasn't thinking straight," He murmured. "The only coherent thought he had was that he couldn't live without Bella. So he decided to take a trip to Italy."

"Idiot." I mumbled and Thomas laughed.

"You swore that you wouldn't be harsh." He said.

"I wasn't being harsh," I murmured. "I was being honest."

Thomas laughed even louder this time.

"Yes well," He said after calming down. "Alice asked Bella to come with her. Yes, it was a dangerous idea but it was also the only one that could work. Edward can't read her mind so she was the only one who had a chance of getting close to him. She saved him but Aro requested an audience with them. Oh, the look on his face when he couldn't read her thoughts. It was priceless!

"And Jane. Oh don't get me started on her. I know her gift is limited to those in her line of sight, but the look she was giving Bella was nothing short of demonic."

"I can imagine." I said. It wasn't that difficult to picture actually.

"Caius wanted her to executed," He hissed softly and my eyes flashed when he mentioned Caius. He looked at me and smiled. "Don't worry honey girl, he'll get what he deserves." He said kissing me on the forehead. I calmed down instantly.

"But Aro let them go," He said. "Just as long as Edward kept his promise to change her. He made some lame attempts to postpone it even if it meant risking his family."

"How so?"

"He wanted to hide Bella just in case they decided to come." He said. "In his mind, if Demetri couldn't find her, then she would be safe."

"But he didn't take into account that the rest of the family could be punished." I said.

"Exactly," He said with a nod. "They voted that morning on whether to change Bella. Well, it was a majority vote in favor of it."

"Who voted against it?" I asked.

"Edward and Rosalie," He said. "Edward was trying to save her soul," He paused to roll his eyes. "Rosalie had a legitimate reason. She said that this wasn't a life she would've chosen and she wished that someone said no for her."

I nodded. After hearing Rosalie's story I see where she's coming from.

"Well Jacob and most of my pack brothers were less than enthused with the return of the Cullens," He said. "Jacob got Bella grounded so she wouldn't see Edward despite the fact that she was already grounded for leaving."

"How?"

"Well," He said. "He and Bella used to ride dirtbikes and Charlie hates motorcycles so Jacob showed him the one Bella rode."

"Huh," I said. "How angry was Charlie?"

"Very angry," He said. "He turned a sickly shade of purple. Well from that day forward Jacob and Edward were...antagonistic towards each other. Towards the summer, we found out that Victoria was creating an army of newborns."

I winced at the reminder. Thomas cupped my face and kissed the cornors of my lips.

"It's in the past," He told me with a smile and I smiled back. "We made an uneasy alliance. Jacob loved it. He thought he could convince Bella to change her mind and admit her feelings."

"Feelings on what?" I asked. I had a pretty good idea but I wanted to be sure.

"Feelings for him." He said.

"Ah."

"Yeah it got really messy," He made a face. "Jake sort of...forced Bella to kiss him."

My growl cut him off.

"It got even worse," He said. "Bella punched him but all she ended up doing was breaking her hand. Even though Jacob was being an ass, Bella did love him, just not as much as she does Edward."

He paused furrowed his brows like he was deciding on what he should say next. I had to admit, he looked really cute.

"After the battle, Leah tried to take on a stray newborn," He grimaced. "She bit off more than she could chew. Jacob managed to get it away from her, but he was attacked."

"How bad?" I asked. "And were you hurt?"

"The right half of his body was shattered," He said and I winced. "I only took on one newborn that tried to claw at my face."

I growled and he sighed.

"I'm fine Tatiana," He said rolling his eyes. "I'm right here."

"I'm allowed to be worried about my mate you know," I grumbled. "Wait, how did you know about my name or Kate's name for that matter?"

"Well you and your sisters have very specific scents," He explained. "You and her smell like things that were used frequently in many Eastern European countires. So I did some research on that and learned quite a bit especially when it came to names. I know that Kate or Katherine are just variations of Katerina. Your name is the same just with Tatiana. And Carlisle told me you've been around for awhile, around the same time that these variations started becoming popular."

He finished his explanation with a shrug.

"Do you do research often?" I asked and he shrugged again.

"From time to time," He said. "Speaking of which, I need to look up what Peter gave me after we finished talking."

"Can I help?" I asked sweetly. He pulled me closer and kissed my forehead.

"You don't need to ask," He smirked. "Now where was I?"

"Newborns." I told him and he smiled.

"Thanks honey girl," He said. "After the battle, I asked Sam to let Carlisle to cross the treaty line so he could patch Jacob up. He was reluctant but he gave in and we spent a good chunk of the day resetting Jacobs bones."

He flinched but chuckled slightly.

"It was terrible," He said. "But Jacob happened to be hopped up on morphine that it wasn't as tense. Everyone was grateful for Carlisle's help."

He paused.

"Jacob left a week after the fight. Edward sent him an invitation to their wedding and Jacob couldn't take it."

"Why did he send him an invitation," I said frowning. "He didn't do it to rub it in Jacob's face did he?"

"No," He shook his head. "He thought Jacob should have the choice to go and he thought Bella would like to have her best friend there."

"That was nice of him," I said. "And that's what you and the other wolf went off too. What was his name?"

"Seth," He said. "At the time, Jacob was gone for a month," He frowned. "But he came back just in time to attend. It was going well, until Bella's honeymoon was mentioned."

"What happened?"

"Jacob asked Bella why she was postponing the change," He said. "She said that she didn't want to be writhing in pain on her honeymoon. He joked that she couldn't have a real honeymoon, and she said she could."

He looked at me and it clicked.

"They were going to be...intimate on their honeymoon." I said and he chuckled.

"If they didn't, Nessie wouldn't be here."

"About that," I murmured. "Who gave her that nickname?"

"Jacob," He said. "He thought her name was a mouthful and most of us use it."

"Except Bella."

"Yeah, she's very against it but like I said, it's not her decision," He said. "So on with the story. Jacob was and a few of us had to drag him back to the reservation."

"Was he yelling?" I asked and he nodded. "I thought I heard something but I wasn't sure."

"Yeah, like I said, he was pissed," He said. "He was so against her being a vampire but the idea of her sleeping with Edward while she was still human infuriated him. After about a month, Seth overheard a phone call between Charlie and Billy."

He paused.

"Charlie was upset because Carlisle called him and said that Bella got sick."

"But she wasn't sick, she was pregnant." I said and he nodded.

"9 months wrapped into 1," He said. "We caught the tail end of it."

"Is this when you had to protect the Cullens?" I asked and he nodded slowly. "Well what did you protect them from?" I asked.

"My family." He said quietly.

I frowned for a second before it clicked.

"The pack wanted to kill the baby." I said and he nodded mutely. "But how did they find out about her?"

"Jacob went to check on her," He said. "He saw that she was pregnant and dying. He wanted Carlisle to perform...an abortion. Bella didn't want that."

"How did Bella convince them to let her carry the baby?"

"She had help," He said. "Before she came home she called Rosalie for help and she was more than willing too. Emmett didn't want anyone hurting Rose, so he helped. Esme didn't want anyone fighting so she helped too. Carlisle took an oath not to do harm and he's not one to take away someone's free will, nor is he someone to go against Esme."

"So the family was divided?" I said and he nodded.

"Very," He said gravely.

"So how did you get away to protect them?"

"Jacob embraced the one thing he refused to accept," He said. "His birthright."

"He became an Alpha?" I asked and he nodded. "But then shouldn't he have ordered the others to lay off?"

"Jacob doesn't like ordering people around like slaves," He said with a small smile. "I'm not saying Sam was like that because he wasn't. But that night was the first time he really abused his status as leader."

"What did he do exactly?" I asked narrowing my eyes.

"He overreacted," He said with a sigh. "He...ordered us to fight them. You have to understand that he was afraid of what the baby could do. He thought it could've been the same force as a newborn."

"But he couldn't know that for sure."

"I know," He said. "But he didn't want to take that chance."

"Not that I agree with this," I started. "But why didn't he wait till the baby was born to see if it was a threat?"

"Like I said, he didn't want to take that chance," He told me. "That's why Jacob, Seth, and I disbanded from the pack. We just couldn't go through with it."

"So you became Jacob's Beta?" I asked. I noticed that Jacob called him that earlier.

"Yeah," He said. "I was Sam's Beta too."

"But you said-"

"That Jacob was," He said cutting me off. "I know but Sam asked me to be Beta when he felt that Jacob was thinking straight."

"Oh."

"Sorry," He said. "I should've eleborated."

"It's fine," I told him. "Please continue."

"Well everyone was tense during this time," He said. "There were some bright spots. Like when we figured out that the baby needed blood. Then when Leah joined our pack."

"She joined the pack?"

"Yes," He said with a nod. "She dislikes vampires, but she wanted to get away from Sam and protect her brother."

"Why did she want to get away from Sam?"

"It's a very long story," He said. "Maybe I'll tell you about it one day. So we were here for a few days and Bella had a very painful pregnancy."

He paused.

"Edward had to bite Renesmee out of Bella's womb," He said. "The trauma from the birth caused her heart to give out. But Edward inject vampire venom into her heart and applied CPR. One would call it a miracle and I would agree."

"So why did your family call off the fight?" I asked. "Why did they stop?"

He pursed his lips.

"Remember when I asked you not to be harsh?" He asked and I nodded. "Well this next part might make you break it."

He took in a deep breath as I frowned.

"Us wolves find our soulmates in a very specific way," He said. "When our eyes connect with the one we are meant to be with, we feel complete. Like we found the other half of our soul. We call it imprinting."

"So when you saw me," I said. "You imprinted? Did Embry imprint on my sister?"

"Yes." He said with a nod.

"But what does this have to do with Renesmee?" I asked.

"We are forbidden from harming our fellow wolves imprints."

"But-" I started when it hit me. "Jacob imprinted on her."

He nodded mutely.

"That's sick!" I hissed.

"What, the fact that he imprinted on her, or the idea of imprinting?" He asked.

"Him imprinting on her," I snarled. "She's just a baby!"

"Do you think that Edward would let him live if he thought of something inappropriate?"

"He could easily block his thoughts."

"He can't," He said. "Jacob doesn't know how to. I do, Sam does, but Jacob can't. Besides, all he wants to do is protect her. Which is the one thing that we would all do even if our imprints wanted nothing to do with us."

"What do you mean if they want nothing to do with you?"

"It's the imprints choice," He explained. "If they want nothing to do with their wolf, then they can deny them. The bond will still be there, but I think if they tried hard enough, they could move on."

"And the wolf?"

"They would just have to accept it," He said. "We put the needs of our imprints before our own."

I stayed silent. Part of me got what he was saying but the other part just couldn't wrap my head around it.

"Can I ask you something?" He said after a moment.

"Sure."

"What did Edward mean when he said, 'Physical relationships between vampires and humans are not common' and 'Human survivors of such trysts are even less common'?"

I tensed at his words. I was hoping that I wouldn't have to talk about this.

"What do you know about the succubus legend?"

"The demon that prays on men and has sex with them for their energy?" He said and I nodded slowly.

"What would you say if I told you that my sisters and I, are the reason that legend exists?"

He blinked at me and for a second I thought I saw a look of disgust in his eyes.

"Well," He said. "I wouldn't know what to say. But I do know that I'm not going to judge you for that. Although, I am slightly jealous of the men that you've encountered."

I stared at him blankly. How could he be jealous of that?

"I know," He murmured. "Disgusting right? But I guess it's because they got to touch you, feel you, taste you, all before I could."

His eyes became black with want as he stared at me.

_He wants me,_ I thought.

"But," He said as he cupped my face. "If you'll have me, I want you to know that You. Are. Mine." He growled and I could feel a familiar knot in my stomach as wetness pooled between my legs at his confession. "I will never let anyone hurt you. I will always love you with everything that I have. Forever and always."

And with that he kissed me.

T.J. POV

I couldn't believe how well our lips molded together. I started off with a few pecks before I licked her bottom lip, asking to explore her mouth. She complied and we both moaned into each other's mouths as our tongues clashed. Her tongue was cold but sweet. It reminded me of a popscicle. My manhood twitched slightly when I got a whiff of her arousal.

I pulled her closer to me and she wrapped her legs around my waist. She was running her fingers through my hair. I had one hand on her neck and another on the small of her back.

After who knows how long, we reluctantly pulled away, both gasping for air, our foreheads touching.

"I've been waiting to do that since the start of this conversation," I said a little sheepishly. "Sorry."

"Don't be," She murmured as she caught her breath. "It was nice. Did you really feel that way? Being jealous of all my past...encounters?"

I nodded slightly.

"Well that was stupid," She said sharply. "You have no reason to be jealous and yes I will have you Thomas Matthews, forever and always."

She gave me a short but firm peck before smiling.

"Now I have a question." She said.

"Shoot."

"Why do you call me honey girl?" She said. "And what does that mean?"

"Ok, 1) You asked me two questions," I told her and she rolled her eyes playfully." And 2) It's a term of endearment where my mom comes from. Sort of like babe or sweetheart."

"Ah." She said. " So what now?"

I shrugged.

"I don't know," I told her. "We could go back to making out like teenagers or we could look up what Peter told me too."

"What is it by the way?"

"It was just the word Dacia."

"Dacia?" She said. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Why? Do you know anything?"

"A little," She said. "Dacia was a kingdom that was another branch of the Thracians."

"Thracians?" I asked. "That's greek right?"

"Yes," She said with a smile. "The Dacian empire actually corresponds with modern day countires like the smaller parts of Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, and Ukraine because the Carpathian Mountains were smack dab in the middle. The major parts include Moldova and Romania."

"Did they have anything to do with vampire history?"

"Not to my knowledge," She said shaking her head. "I know there is a Romanian coven but I'm not sure if they were invited."

"No weapons that were used on a vampire?" I asked." Nothing like that?" If there was something like that it could be useful.

"No," She said. "The only possible connection I can make is the Dacian Draco. It was their symbol, linking them back to their godly ancestor. It had the body of a dragon with the head of a wolf. It's where the word Dacian was derived from."

"Really?" I asked. I tried picturing it but the image looked a little weird.

"Really," She said. "The myth of the werewolf is believed to be derived from this empire. A lot of scholars claim that both vampires and werewolves can be linked back to ancient Greece. I'm not old enough to debunk the former and I don't have enough information on the latter."

"Well I'm stumped."

"Maybe Carlisle has books on them," She offered. "I've only read a few entries on this empire but I'm sure Carlisle has more."

"That sounds like a plan," I said. "It's almost lunch time too. I can make something for those that eat."

"Ok."

She crawled out of my lap and I sprang to my feet.

I took her hand in mine and we headed back to the house.

* * *

><p><strong>There you go folks. I'll try and get the next one up as soon as possible. Till then stay safe, and happy reading.<strong>

**-Capt. Hazard**


	23. Thunderstruck

T.J. POV

As we were walking back to the house, Tanya and I could hear somone moaning. I could smell them before we saw them. Someone's arousal was overpowering Tanya's which was fading fast. Me and Tanya walked into a small clearing to see Irina pinned to a tree with her legs wrapped around Embry's waist while he was nipping and sucking on her neck. They weren't having sex but I'm pretty sure they were considering it.

I raised my eyebrows and I looked at Tayna who was doing the same thing. She caught my glance and I inclined my towards the two.

'Should we stop them?' I mouthed to her. She shrugged indifferently but there was a mischievous glint in her eyes and a small smirk playing on her lips.

I smirked too and glanced at my pack mate and his imprint. I took in a deep breath, which is alot considering we have great lung capacities. After I got enough air I let out the one noise I heard my realtives in Hawai'i use at various sporting events.

"CCCCHHHHHEEEEEE HHHHHHHHOOOOOO!" I yelled.

Embry yelped and fell backwards. Irina fell right on top of him. They were both breathing heavily, eyes wide, and scaning the area for the source of their surprise.

When they saw us their eyes got even wider before they narrowed. Tayna giggled at their expressions while I laughed.

"I must say sister," Tanya said. "Your senses are getting dull."

"Yes," I said with a nod. "I'm surprised little brother, you're usually more aware than this. Are you losing your touch?"

They both growled at us and we laughed.

"Babe, could you get up for a second," Embry said gritting his teeth. "I need to have a word with my idiot brother."

She was up in a flash as was Embry. He charged at me and I did the same thing. The first thing I notced was that we were moving faster than usual. When our bodies collided, the sound from the impact reminded me of thunder. That's when I noticed that we were both stronger.

We both wrestled like we normally would and it ended the same way. I had Embry pinned to the ground while he tried to break out of it.

"Let me up!" He whined and I smirked.

"If you had any brains, you wouldn't have tried to attack me." I told him. "That way you wouldn't be in this position."

"Oh let him up Thomas," I heard Tanya say. "I don't think my sister likes the fact that you are roughing up her puppy."

"I am not a puppy!" Embry growled. I heard both Irina and Tanya giggle before I stood up. I offered Embry my hand so I could pull him up. He took it and I helped him to his feet. After he stood, he started dusting himself off before rejoining Irina. I made my way over to Tanya.

"So," I said looking at Embry. "Already working your magic?"

"Jealous?" He grinned and I rolled my eyes.

"Jealous? Why would I be jealous of you?" I said. "You look like a native american Justin Bieber with those bangs. And you're so damn skinny you could probably hula hoop through a fucking Cheerio."

Tanya burst into laughter while the corners of Irina's lips twitched. I knew she wanted to laugh but Embry was her mate and she wanted to stand by her man, which was totally understandable. Embry glared at me before baring his teeth.

"At least my frame looks natural," He snapped. "You look like you live off of muscle milk and steroids. If you were painted green, you could pass for the offspring of the Hulk."

"Really? That's all you got?" I said with a sigh. "You are hopeless."

"You are impossible."

"You are an idiot."

You-"

"Enough!" Irina snarled. "I'm pretty sure this pissing contest is over."

"It wasn't even a challange," I murmured. "I was going make something for lunch, you want in?"

At the mention of lunch, Embry perked up.

"What are we waiting for?" He said grabbing Irina's hand. Before I could say more, they bolted towards the house. _Weird_, I thought. I sighed loudly while Tanya grabbed my hand.

"What is it?" She asked.

"Nothing," I said. "I sometimes wonder what he likes more, food or sex? If he could find away to do both without it being gross, he probably would."

"What do you mean, you wonder which he likes more?" She asked with narrowed eyes. "Has he ever had sex? and why would he do both?"

I looked away feeling embarassed that I just outed my brother.

"Well?" She demanded.

"Yes he has had sex," I said and she hissed. "But he's not going to hurt your sister, trust me, it's impossible to do that. He only has eyes for her now."

"Fine," She grumbled. "If he does I'll neuter him."

I barked out a laugh and kissed her forehead.

"Do you notice anything odd while we were wrestling?"

"No," She said frowning. "Unless you count the fact that you moved like we do."

"We did?"

"Yes," She said eyeing me strangely. "I didn't think your kind could move like that."

"We can't." I told her.

"But you just did," She murmured. "Embry just did it now. Didn't you notice?"

"I did," I told her. "But I was hoping that I didn't."

"Why?" She asked curiously.

"Because we shouldn't be able to do that."

She frowned but shrugged it off.

"Wait till Carlisle comes back," She said. "Maybe he could help."

I nodded. Carlisle may not have the answer, but he'll be more than willing to help.

I squeezed Tanya's hand and we ran towards the house. Trees blurred in my vision as we ran. It was strange seeing things be so distorted. We got to the house in about 20 seconds.

_I can run just as fast in this form as I can in my other one._ I thought. Even though I was still wary about being able to do this, I had to admit it was a nice feeling.

"Is it always like that?" I asked Tanya as we walked into the house.

"The blurry images?" She asked and I nodded. "Yes."

"Were you holding back?"

"No," She said shaking her head. "You kept up with me."

I nodded my head. I noticed that Peter and Charlotte were near the dining table and they had curious expressions. Their eyes zeroed in on mine and Tanya's conjoined hands. They both raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

"Where are the others?" I asked ignoring their looks.

"Hunting," Peter said in a slightly disgusted tone. Jasper told me that Peter wasn't exactly fond of the way the Cullens hunted. He thought it made their kind weak but he was happy that jasper found away to avoid being in pain when it came to blood. "They took the child and the dog with them."

"You mind running that by me again?" I said with an eyebrow raised as I heard a growl in the kitchen.

He stared at me wide eyed before he spoke.

"Sorry," He murmured. "I did it out of reflex."

I nodded my head while Tanya and I shuffled out of the room and into the kitchen where we could hear several things banging together. I froze when I saw the sight before me. Embry was looking through the cupboards and he had a pot on the stove. The burner was on, but I didn't smell anything.

_Maybe he was just heating it up,_ I thought although I still didn't like the idea.

"And what do you think you are doing?" I asked him.

He spun around and beamed at me.

"Well," He started. "Me and Irina were talking and I got the idea to pay you back for making breakfast."

"There is no need for that." I told him and he frowned.

"But I want to help."

"Embry," I said taking a step closer. "Do you not remember what happened the last time you tried to cook?"

"That was a one time thing." He protested and I shook my head.

"You almost burned down Sam's house," I murmured. "And all you were trying to do was boil water."

I could hear Peter and Charlotte laughing in the dining room, while Tanya and Irina giggled at Embry's red face. Well, as red as bronze skin can get.

"Like I said, one time thing." He muttered.

"Embry," I said softly. "I'm sure even you would find a way to start a fire with an electric stove."

Another round of laughter took place as Embry sighed.

"Fine," He said. "But it's the thought that counts, right?"

"Exactly," I said with a smile. "Now let me see if I can whip up anythi-"

I stopped talking when I looked inside the pot. I thought that since I couldn't smell anything, there wasn't anything in it. Boy was I wrong. I couldn't see it too clearly because the lid was on but I could tell that it was a little lumpy and green. I turned off the burner and stared at the pot.

"Embry?" I called.

"Yeah."

"Why are you making oobleck?" I asked turning to face him. He frowned at me.

"What?"

"Oobleck," I repeated. "It's a non newtonian fliud. It's non toxic and odorless, well, for now at least. But I'm pretty sure it's not a common dish."

He frowned even more.

"That's not what I was making."

This time, I frowned at him.

"Then what were you making?"

"Scrambled eggs."

My frown was replaced with a disbelieving look. I stared at him then back to the pot, then back to him. I did this several times before he broke it.

"What?" He said sounding annoyed.

I wordlessly picked up the pot. I lifted the lid and held it out to him.

"Does that look like scrambled eggs to you?" I asked.

I saw Tanya and Irina exchange a glance before walking over to investigate. All three of them looked in and made a face. Irina looked at Embry with a bemused expression.

"Er baby," She said quietly. "You do know that eggs are not green right?"

"Yes," He said exasperated. "I have no idea how that happend."

"Me neither," I murmured. "It's as if the laws of physics and reality don't apply to you when you cook."

I heaved a sigh and began cleaning the pot.

"I'll make something else," I told him. "Don't worry."

After I finished cleaning it, I dried it and started gathering some supplies. I got some chopped steak, some onions, a tomato, another pack of mushrooms etc. I started making something my mom used to make alot: Beef Tomato.

"It would be easier if I had shoyu," I murmured to myself. "But I guess cooking oil would work just as well."

"What are you talking about?" I heard Embry ask.

"Nothing," I said. "Peter, Charlotte?" I called. They both flashed in the room.

"Yes?" Peter said.

"It might smell revolting in a few moments," I started. "I know human food is disgusting to you so I'm giving you a heads up."

They both nodded their thanks.

"Er Edward did tell you the rules right?" I said hesitantly. I wasn't sure if he did and Jasper told me that when they would vist the Cullens, they hunted before hand in another state. But this wasn't a short visit, they were in it for the long haul. "About...hunting?"

"Don't worry Thomas," Charlotte said. "We won't hunt in the area."

"Ok," I said. "And please call me T.J. My friends and family do, and since I trust you two, you can call me that."

"Ok T.J." She said with a smile. "And like I said don't worry, we'll keep our word."

I nodded my head. Part of me felt uneasy about this, but I knew this was necessary. I knew they wouldn't be able to handle the diet of animal blood, and they couldn't help their nature, but I get why Jake and the others despised this idea.

They flashed out of the house and I heard Embry grumble under his breath.

"Why can't they all just drink animal blood?" He said.

"Because it's not easy," I said while not looking at him. Even though I was preparing lunch, I could tell that he was looking at me incredulously.

"How would you know?"

"Well I don't know about it personally," I said giving him a sideways glance. "But I've spoken to Carlisle and the others about it before and they said they've had their struggles. I would imagine our soul mates feel the same way."

I looked over at the two girls and they nodded slowly.

"You two don't have to stay here," I told them. "I would hate to make you feel uncomfortable."

"It's fine," Tanya said with a shrug. "We have nothing better to do."

"Okay then." I said with a smile before turning my attention to making lunch.

It was simple really. Chop up the onion, fry the meat, cut the tomato along with the mushrooms. After you brown the meat, you just toss everything in and stir for a few minutes.

Before it finished cooking, I took out a tupperware container so I could leave some on the side for Jake and Nessie. After it was done I scooped some inside and closed the lid on it.

"We can eat bro." I said and I could hear him flash into the room. I turned to see him holding a bowl out too me with one hand another bowl in the other.

"Weird," I murmured taking the bowl from him.

"What?" He said.

"You don't think it's weird that we can move as fast as our mates?" I asked while not looking at him. "Not even a little?"

"Nah," He said and I could practically feel him shrug. "It's awesome, I imagine we're even faster in our wolf form now. Besides, it might be an after effect of the imprinting bond."

I stopped what I was doing and slowly turned to him. I blinked in surprise and he looked slightly uncomfortable.

"What?"

"N-nothing," I sputtered. "It's just you said something intelligent and I wasn't expecting it."

"Are you saying I'm stupid?" He huffed.

"Well," I said stretching out the word. He huffed again and pushed me out of the way to get some food. After he was done, I finished making my food and we sat at the dining table. The girls were close by. Irina was going to sit right next to Embry, but he slowly pulled her into his lap. She didn't protest or complain. I looked at Tanya sheepishly. I wouldn't mind if she sat in my lap, but I wanted her to decide.

"You don't have to-" I tried to say but she cut me off by sitting in my lap.

"It's fine." She said before giving me a peck on the lips. I sighed happily before I started eating.

About two minutes into lunch, Embry started chewing so loudly that I had to kick him in the shin.

"Ow!" He yelped. "What the hell was that for?"

"For acting like a cow," I snapped. "Could you at least act like you were raised by human beings?"

He was glaring at me while rubbing his shin.

"He has a point babe," Irina said and Embry frowned at her. "It was a little annoying. The only reason I didn't say anything was because I didn't want to be a bother."

Embry stopped frowning and smiled warmly at her.

"You could never be a bother," He said honestly before turning to me. "My bad bro."

And he went back to eating while I gaped.

"What is it?" Tanya asked.

"He's never apologized. At least when it came to food," I said before looking at Irina." You're a miracle worker."

She looked like she would've blushed if she could while Embry grinned.

"She's awesome huh?" He said and Irina buried her face in his neck.

I started eating again.

Towards the end of lunch we started talking again.

"May I ask you two a question?" Irina said.

"Shoot." Me and Embry said.

"Are you two really brothers, or are you two really close?"

"The latter," I told her. "Although if you had to look at our family trees, several of us are related."

"Like who?"

"Well me and Jacob are cousins," I said. "I'm also cousins with Sam, whose the Alpha of the other pack. And I'm also related to members of the pack that I'm in."

"Are you two related?" Tanya asked looking at me and Embry. He and I both pursed our lips.

"What?" She asked. "Did I say something wrong?"

"No honey girl you didn't," I reassured her. "It's just-"

"I don't know who my father is," Embry added in a flat tone, successfully cutting me off.

"Oh I'm sorry I didn't know."

"Do me a favor Tanya," He said with a small smile. "Don't apologize. It's like you said, you didn't know."

"But still," She insisted.

"Sis, let it go," He said groaning. "It's not that big of a deal."

"Sis?" She said raising an eyebrow. He grinned at her.

"Well we're family right?" He said. "If we make it out of this, I plan to marry your sister when I'm of age and I would be your brother in law, making you my sister."

Irina beamed at him and Tanya smiled at him.

"Wow," I murmured. "I never thought I would live to see the day that marriage and Embry Call would be mentioned in the same sentence. But who knows, it might suit you."

"So you don't wanna put a ring on it?" He asked innocently and I rolled my eyes.

"Of course I will you moron," I said. "I was just surprised that _you_ would. Like I said, the concept of marriage and you never crossed my mind."

He shrugged and I finished my food.

"Honey girl," I said and she looked at me. "Could you let me up?"

"Oh, sure."

She stood up and walked to the side. I stood up.

"You still eating Em?" I asked and he nodded.

"Ok. Just don't touch the tupperware," I told him. "That's for Jake. And you know how he gets when he doesn't eat or get any food in his system after awhile."

He shuddered and nodded.

"What happens if he doesn't eat?" Irina asked.

"One of two things," I started. "1) He becomes whiny which isn't so bad. Or 2) He becomes an absolute prick that will snap at you, sort of like an angry dog. The first one happens more often but the second one..."

I trailed off shaking my head.

"Trust me, it was not pretty." Embry said and shuddered again.

"That was your own fault," I told him. "We told you not to bug him, but did you listen? No you didn't."

He shuddered and pushed his bowl away from him.

"I think I just lost my appetite."

I smirked and grabbed his bowl. I shoul have reminded him this morning, it would have saved me alot of trouble. I headed back to the kitchen and started cleaning. After I finished cleaning I rejoined the othes in the dining room.

"So what now?" Embry asked.

"Don't know," I told him. "We just have to wait for the guests to get here."

"How long till they get here?"

"The first nomad should be here tomorrow," I said. "Then the Irish coven should be here the following day."

"Will we be fine?" He asked.

"Yeah," I said nodding. "The nomad in question, Garrett is his name, will be willing to help. The Irish coven will be helping as well."

"Will there be anyone we need to worry about?" Tanya asked.

"The only ones that give me pause is the Egyptians." I said honestly.

"Why?" Irina asked. "We haven't always been on the best of terms with Amun, but he enjoys Carlisle's company."

"They will be divided when they get here," I explained. "The younger members of his coven will be very curious while he won't want any involvement."

"Younger members?" Tanya said frowning. "The last time we saw them, there were only two."

"There's four now," I said. "When was the last time you saw them?"

"About 3 centuries ago."

"If you came later you would've met them," I said. "Amun has made a point to hide one of them."

"Why?" She asked. "And for what?"

"He's powerful," I told her. "And he's hiding him from Aro."

"How powerful are we talking about?" Irina asked.

"He would probably make what the wonder twins do look like cheap magic tricks," I said. "Well if he was a sadistic bastard."

"What can he do?"

"He can control the elements," I explained. "It's not an illusion, it's physical manipulation. He's easily the most powerful vampire there is."

"So he is the Avatar?" Embry asked seriously.

"Yes little brother," I said seriously while grasping his shoulders. "He is the one that can bend the elements to his will and is the key to uniting the four nations."

We both stared at each other before we started laughing our asses off. Tanya and Irina looked at as if we lost our minds.

"What, you two have never seen Avatar: The last air bender?" I asked and they shook their heads. "Really? You're missing out."

"You are," Embry agreed. "It's a great show. Hey, don't the Cullens have Netflix?"

"I think so," I said. "Why?"

"We should show the girls."

"Embry, we don't have time for that."

"Of course we do," He said. "There's nothing else that needs to be done so why not?"

I sighed.

"Fine but only a few episodes," I said. "I need to check something out."

"Got it." He grinned and grabbed Irina's hand. They headed towards the living room and I looked at Tanya.

"Shall we?" I asked and she nodded. I grabbed her hand and we bounded our way up the stairs to Carlisle's study. I still felt weird coming in here by myself but Carlisle told me that I was family and as long as I didn't mess with anything, it was ok to be in there.

I made my way over to his bookshelf. You would think that with him being a doctor, he would only have medical journals. If you thought that, you would be wrong. Not only did he have journals, he had books on different subjects from different parts of history. I scanned the shelves and my gaze landed on a book of greek history and culture. I pulled it off the shelf and scanned the table of contents. When I found the chapter dedicated to Thrace, I flipped through the pages.

While I did see some imformation I already knew, like the story of one of the most famous Thracians, Spartacus, was a Roman auxilary soldier who deserted the Roman empire, only to be enslaved and forced to fight in the arena as a gladiator. The small entry on Dacia was just that, small. It didn't contain any new information. I sighed and put the book back in it's spot. I did this several times and came up with nothing.

I saw Tanya gazing at the shelves.

"Didn't find anything new?" She asked without looking at me.

"Nope." I said popping the 'P' sound. "How bout you?"

"No," She said shaking her head. "I have some of these volumes at my house, some of these I don't but I've already read them."

"What did Irina mean when she said that you and Amun haven't been on the best of terms?"

"It's along story," She said. "Basically we got into a debate about what he did back in the old days when it came to the local women. He used them as slaves, sex objects, and food. He said it was how the way things were run in his day and he would have brought it back if were given the chance."

"What happened next?" I asked in an even voice although I was starting to like Amun less and less.

"I told him it was barbaric and he told me that I should use my tongue more effectively by polishing the staff between his legs," She hissed and I growled. "I slapped him so hard that a piece of his face fell off."

"You should have done more." I said darkly.

"Trust me I wanted too," She said. "Especially when he called me and my sisters whores."

I couldn't stop the snarl that tore through my lips from escaping. I took in a few deep breaths to calm down so I could change the subject.

"Well I'm stumped again," I murmured and hoped she would catch on. Luckily she did.

She gave me a sideways glance.

"You should try using the computer downstairs."

"I think I will," I said walking towards her. I wrapped my arms around her when I got close. I placed kiss on the top of her head.

"Will you come with me?"

"Of course."

She grabbed my hand and lead me out of the room. We flashed down stairs and I could see Embry and Irina making out on the couch. I guess I was so wrapped up in reading that I didn't hear them kissing. Irina was sitting in Embry's lap with her arms around his neck. I looked at Tanya and jerked my chin in the direction of the computer. She nodded and we headed in that direction. The desktop was set up near the window by the garage. Tanya grabbed a chair and sat next to me.

I turned it on and waited. After it was done loading, I opened up a browser and typed Dacia in the search engine. Most of the entries were of the same thing I read or were told. The only difference was the entry on the weapons the used like the Falx which was sort of like a short scythe. There was also the Sica which could be viewed as either a short sword or a large daggar. There were rumors that there were weapons that could've have been seen as revolutionary. Well, at the time at least but there has never been any evidence of these weapoms ever existing.

Just for the hell of it, I looked up the Dacian Draco. The image I had in my head was a little off, ah who am I kidding I was way off. It looked a lot cooler than I pictured it.

"Nice isn't it?" I heard Tayna say. I was vaguely aware that someone gasped behind us.

"Yeah it is." I said looking at her.

I glanced at her neck then her chest and I noticed something. She was wearing a silver pendant that looked like a sheild.

"Like what you see?" I heard her tease and my face felt hot.

"I-I wasn't looking at that," I said looking her in the eye. She raised an eyebrow. "Not that they're not worth looking at. Wait, forget I said that. I was just looking at your pendant."

She looked down and brought it to her face.

"This is our family crest," She said. "Kate, Irina, and I have these pendants, Eleazar has a ring, and Carmen has a hair clip."

She took it off and handed it to me. I looked it over. The top sort of curved upward towards the middle like a wave and the bottom sharpened to a point. The inside had a circle in the foregorund and two black lines in the background making it seem like there were three spaces. The inside of the circle had a diamond outline with a green diamond shaped gem lodged in the middle.

"The sheild represents my mother and creator, Sasha, always giving protection," Tanya explained when I looked at her. "The three spaces represent Irina, Kate, and myself, the three sisters, the first members of our family. The circle represents our bond, infinite and never wavering. The Emerald represents our generosity, reliabilty, and harmony, things that are essential in a family."

I handed it back to her after her explaination.

"If we make it out of this," She started. "Irina and I will give you and Embry an item with this crest. You see, it's different in the vampire world. Alot of the older covens have crests. Carlisle has one, which I'm sure you've seen,"

She looked at me for confirmation and I nodded.

"The Volturi have one as well but it's all for flash," She said. "It's an old tradition that went out of practice but we still continue it."

"You don't have to do that," I told her. "I could get it tattooed on the inside of my arm, it could work well with my existing tattoo."

"Existing tattoo?" She asked and I nodded.

"All the wolves of La Push have a tattoo signifying their commitment to our cause," I said. "We get it on our right shoulder."

"Yep," Embry added rolling up his sleeve to reveal his tattoo. "See?"

Irina ran her finger over his tattoo while I raised an eyebrow.

"How long have you been listening?" I asked and he smirked.

"Around the time you lamely denied that you were not looking at Tanya's rack."

I growled, Tanya looked at the floor, and Irina gasped before smacking him in the back of the head.

"I wasn't looking at her chest you dumb ass!" I snapped. "I was looking at her pendant."

"Sure you were." He smirked while rubbing the back of his head. I wanted punch him so badly.

He turned to pout at Irina.

"Whatcha do that for?"

"You were being rude," She sneered. "I don't want to hear you talk about another woman like that especially my sister! Now apologize."

He pouted some more.

"I'm sorry Tanya," He said. "I didn't mean to be rude."

"It's fine." She said.

I wanted to tell her it wasn't but I was too busy gaping and Irina and Embry.

"We'll fuck me running," I murmured to myself while looking at the floor. "She's done it again."

"Anyway," Tanya said. "I don't see how it would go well with you tattoo if you put it on the inside of your arm."

"Well I sort of built around my wolf tattoo." I said and she frowned.

"Built around it?"

Instead of answering, I stood up and took my shirt off. I spread my arms wide and spun around in a circle.

"See?" I asked.

Tanya didn't say anything she just stared at my abs and I swear I saw her lick her lips, just a little.

"Like what you see?" I teased and she stared at me wide eye before looking away.

"Sorry." She murmured.

"It's fine."

"That's a big tattoo," She said as I put my shirt back on. "Must've cost a lot."

"It was free." Embry said.

"Free?" Irina asked.

"Yeah," I said. "All of our tattoo's were free. The tattoo artist wanted to do this addition for me because of the other part my heritage. We got along very well and he's half Quileute like me and we both have Polynesian blood. I paid him after we finshed although he was reluctant to take the money."

"Why?"

"He didn't want it," I said with a shrug. "He said us half breeds needed to stick together. Plus, he doesn't get to do this style very often and I guess it didn't feel right to him if he charged me."

"Well, Irina and I are still getting you these items," She said and I saw Irina nod. "It's tradition."

"OK." I said shrugging. "Do you wanna watch the show now?"

She nodded and we headed to the couch.

~~~~~~~ 2:00 pm~~~~~~~

We were able to watch the first 2 season of A:TLA before the others came back. Tanya and Irina thought it was a cute show and worth watching. Jake practically inhaled the food I made. Edward and Nessie did a duet together. It was a new piece that he composed. Bella was standing behind them. The rest of the Denali's sat in the surrounding seats, while Tanya and Irina sat in our laps. Carmen and Eleazar smiled at the girls, probably thinking that it was great that they found their mates. Kate raised an eyebrow at me and Embry.

"You two just met my sisters earlier today and your already making the moves?" She said. "I'm impressed."

"Well," I started. "Like I said before, I live to seek your approval."

"As you should," She said with a nod and I rolled my eyes. "Don't roll your eyes at me young man, it's very rude."

"And what, dearest sister, would you do if I don't?" I inquired with a raised eyebrow. It felt kind of weird to be talking like that.

"That is for me to know," She said. "And for you to find out little brother. Now, after the child has gone to bed, you, me, and the pup need to have a discussion."

"About?"

Edward stopped playing and looked at Kate.

"Kate," He warned. Uh oh, I wonder what she's thinking.

"About your intentions with my sisters," She said ignoring Edward. "I need to make sure that they are pure."

"They will not be having a discussion with you Kate," Irina said irritably. "There is no need."

"But-"

"No," Tanya said sharply and Kate pouted. "And that is final."

"But I had so much material at my disposal!" She whined. "Now it's wasted."

Tanya and Irina shrugged while Kate pouted some more. She kinda reminded me of Emmett when he get's shot down.

"This isn't over," Kate grumbled.

_You better leave us alone you old bat,_ I thought and I heard Edward laugh. Several people looked at him strangely while I smiled. He waved it off and started playing.

"You better leave them alone Kate," Irina said. "Or when you find your mate, we'll never leave you two alone."

"As if I'll be finding my mate anytime soon," She said with an eyeroll and I smirked. "I doubt I would find them in the group that's coming here."

_That's what you think Katerina,_ I thought and Edward looked at me but I shook my head.

_You'll find out soon,_ I thought and he nodded.

The others spent the rest of the day trying to strategize but I said that we should wait to see who will be willing to stay. Edward said that I should be able to see who will commit. I said that was true but things can change, that the future is not written in stone. That shut him up. I told them that when everyone was here then we would talk. I called my mom to give her an update. She was mad that I didn't say good bye but she was happy that I met Tanya.

"I want to meet her," She said. "I know it can't be anytime soon but I want too."

"I'm sure she would like that," I said with a smile and I saw Tanya smiling too. We both knew that it was a big if but it was still nice to hear. "How's grandma?"

"She misses you but she knows that this is important," She told me. "She gives you her love."

"Same here," I said. "I'm gonna head out now, but I'll try and call as often as I can." _Which might not be that often will all the vampires coming,_ I added mentally.

"Ok sweetheart, be careful," She said and I groaned when I saw Kate shaking with silent laughter. "I love you."

"Love you too ma," I told her. "And I will."

"Bye."

"Bye."

And she hung up.

I noticed that Embry started kissing Irina again.

"Get a room," Jake said before turning to Edward.

"I don't think so," Edward said. "I used to kiss Bella and the venom never spread."

I froze and so did Embry. Why the fuck did he need to bring this up?

"What are you talking about?" Kate asked and I glared at the two morons who brought it up.

"Jacob asked if venom could spread from kissing," Edward said hesitantly. I guess he got scared of what I might do. "I told him no."

"Why does that matter?" Tanya asked although she was looking at me with her hands on her hips. Irina crawled out of Embry's lap. She stood in front of him with her hands on her hips and narrowed her gaze at him.

"Er vampire venom is poisonous to us," Jake said and I flared my nostrils while Embry scowled at him. "If it spreads we could die."

Embry and I growled and the two of them and they slowly backed up. Irina and Tanya hissed at us to get our attention. I cringed from the glare Tanya was giving me.

"Is there a reason why you didn't tell me this?" Tanya said in a deadly calm voice. I cringed again.

"It never came up," I said. "And I kinda forgot about it."

"How do you forget something like this!" She roared and her became dark as coal. I backed away slowly. "This is not something you just forget about Thomas. That's like me forgeting that I'm not immune to fire! It's stupid to forget that!"

"Did you forget too, Embry?" Irina said through her teeth and Embry put his head down. "What would've happened if I accidentaly bit you huh? What was I supposed to do if you died? How could you not tell me this!"

She leaned forward lifted his chin up with her hand so he could look at her.

"I don't know what I would do if you died," Her voice broke and I saw Tanya's gaze not only soften but become sadder. "I would be so lost..."

She trailed off and Embry pulled her into his lap while I hugged Tanya. She hugged me back and buried her face in my neck I realized that they weren't mad, they were scared. Scared that they would lose us.

"I'm sorry honey girl," I said. "I didn't mean to make you upset."

"Yeah baby I'm sorry." Embry said.

They didn't say anything but I felt Tanya tighten her grip. It was a little too tight and I had to pat her back.

"Can't breath," I said and she lossened her grip.

"Sorry," She said. He voice was muffled but I understood. I kissed the top of her head. I noticed that the others had left the room and left us alone.

"Ok, how about we discuss this later," I said. "Everything and I mean everything. How does that sound?"

I saw Embry and Irina nod and Tanya murmured a yes.

We were back to our cheerful selves after that. Then at 7 o'clock, Edward, Bella, Jake, and Nessie headed back to the cottage. Me, Embry, and the others watched some T.V. until it was time to call it a night.

"We can move fast but we still need to sleep," Embry grumbled as we headed to the room.

"I guess we just became stronger but we still have human traits." I said before turning to the girls. "What are you two going to do?"

"Probably talk with the others or go hunting," Tanya said with a shrug before she smirked. "Why, do you want me to tuck you in?"

I growled playfully before I pulled her into a kiss.

"Don't tempt me," I whispered as I pulled away. "And besides, you shouldn't start something you can't finish."

Her eyes became black with lust.

"Is that a challange?"

"Maybe."

"Oh shut up and fuck each other already!" Kate snapped from down stairs. My face started burning and Tayna growled loudly.

"No one asked for your opinion Katerina!" She growled. She then proceded to snap at her in Russian.

I pulled her in the room as did Embry with Irina who looked like she wanted to slap Kate.

"How about you girls stay in here," I said. "Just for a little while."

They didn't protest. I lead Tanya to one side of the bed. Embry led Irina to the other. I sat down and pulled Tanya into my lap. I placed kisses on her neck and she moaned softly I could hear Embry doing the same thing to Irina.

"I'm still mad at you," She said. "Don't think I'll forget about this."

I sighed and leaned back to lie down. I pulled Tanya down with me. She rested her head on my chest and sighed. I put one hand on her waist and ran the other one through her hair.

We just stayed that way for who knows how long and before I knew it, I fell a sleep.

The dream I was having was strange to say the least. It wasn't a vision or a regular dream it was...different.

I was walking around the forest. It kinda felt like I wasn't physically there but I was feeling everything around me. The ground, the tress, the plants, etc. I could feel all of it. I could literally feel them growing. I could hear many things at once. Like the flapping of wings from the birds flying above.

I stepped into the clearing where we fought the newborns and where the Volturi will arrive. I stopped when I could hear and feel giant paws hitting the earth on the opposite end of the clearing. It was moving fast and then it slowed down into a trot. I froze when a giant wolf came into view. Now, I know it sounds weird that I would freeze up when I see a giant wolf considering that I can turn into one. But it wasn't just any wolf, it was my wolf. The same rusty brown fur with white spots and amber eyes.

I slowly walked towards the wolf and it slowly moved towards me. I was trying to think of something to say but I drew a blank.

'Hello would be the polite thing to say', the voice I heard in my head say but this time I heard it aloud as well.

I spun around trying to see where the voice came from.

'It's very rude to turn your back on your guest' The voice said and I slowly turned around.

I stared at the wolf and blinked. It shifted uncomfortably on it's front paws.

'What?' It said.

"Y-y-you." I stuttered and it rolled it's eyes.

'Yes I'm me. So what of it?' It said. 'Yeesh take a picture, it will last longer.'

"What?"

'Stop staring!' It snapped. 'You're creeping me out!'

"S-s-sorry," I said. "I just never met a talking wolf. You're the voice in my head?"

It rolled it's eyes but perked up.

'Yes that was me.' It said. 'The names Takoda.'

It held out it's front paw for me to shake. I stared at it for a minute before I took it.

"Nice to meet you," I murmured. I couldn't believe I actually shook it's paw. "What does your name mean? It's not Quileute."

'No, it's not,' He said. 'It's a word from the Sioux language that means 'friend to everyone' or 'friend to many' It suits you nicely no?'

"Suit's me?" I asked. "But you said-"

'That it was my name,' He interrupted. 'Yes it is, but I am apart of you now, so therefore the name has meaning for you as well.'

"Oh," I murmured. "So what are you exactly?"

'Why I am a wolf of course," He teased. 'Do you not know your animals?'

I rolled my eyes.

"You know that's not what I meant," I said. "What are you, the imprinting bond made into another consciousness or something?"

'Or something.'

"Thanks," I grumbled. "That clears it up."

He sighed which looked very weird on a wolf. At least one of this size.

'I know right?' He asked.

"Know what?" I asked geniunely confused.

_Did he read my mind?_

'Of course I can,' He murmured. 'I'm apart of you remember?'

"Oh yeah," I said sheepishly. "Now what were you saying?"

'That me sighing looked weird,' He explained. 'It did didn't it?'

I nodded slowly, not sure where this was going.

'That's what I always thought,' He said cheerfully while wagging his tail. 'Now to answer your question, I guess you could call me your link.'

"Link?" I asked. "Link to what?"

'Why the great spirit of course.'

I blinked. I wasn't sure if I heard him right.

'You did,' He said.

"So the great spirit is real?" I asked and thunder rumbled in the sky despite the fact that there were no thunder clouds. "I guess that answers my question."

'Yes the great spirit is real.'

"Well where is...it?" I said looking around. I didn't know whether the great spirit was a man or a woman. Our legends never said anything along those lines so I said what I thought was safe.

'Your looking at it,' He said. At my questioning look, he continued. 'The sky, the earth, the trees etc. They make up the great spirit. Even you do Thomas, because the great spirt is life. It is in all of us. We are what give it power and in turn, it blesses us. As long as we are here, the great spirit will remain. It will remain a higher power that nearly everyone and everything hardly pays attention too. I am your link to that higher power. Now come, there someone you need to see.'

He stretched and shook himself.

'This way," He said jerking his head towards the ridge where Edward set up camp for him and Bella. 'And try to keep up.'

He bolted in that direction and I smirked. Instead of phasing I ran on two feet. I didn't know if I could phase or if I could run fast in this whatever you want to call it. It worked though, because in no time I was side by side with Takoda.

_Are you holding back?_ I thought.

_No,_ He thought to me. _In this plane of existence, anything is possible._

I didn't say anything but I smiled. I could defintely get used to this.

We got to ridge and skidded to a halt when thunder rumbled and there was a flash of lightning. After the light dissipated, another animal stood in the spot where the lightning struck. It was a bird, a giant bird. Even though it's wings were tucked in, I could tell the wing span was massive. It's beak was curved down like an eagle and it was slightly cracked on the right side. It's eyes were gold and I only looked in them for a second, but I saw so much in them. It's feathers were black with blood red tips. It shuffled it's weight from talon to talon while it regarded us. It was leaning forward so I couldn't tell it's full height. If I had to guess, it was over 25 feet.

'Hello young ones," It said. It's voice sounded very old like it's been around for a long time but there was a hint of warmth in them. 'Welcome to my domain.'

"Er hi?" I said and I saw Takoda role his eyes.

'Thomas this is-'

'Let the boy figure it out,' The bird interrupted while looking at me. 'I've been watching him for a long time and I know that he is very bright and very observant.'

I eyed the bird warily. I tried to think of many different creatures in several different mytholgies I've read but I came up with nothing. I also felt like I was missing the obvious.

'You are,' Takoda said before turning to the bird. 'May I give him a hint?'

'I don't see the harm in it,' The bird said. 'Just try not to make it obvious.'

Takoda hummed thoughtfully.

'I've got it," He said turning to me. 'Whales have a love/hate relationship with him."

He cocked his head towards the bird after he gave me his hint. A hint that would've confused the hell out of some people but it made me think.

Massive bird. Has a love/hate relationship with whales. It's domain is the sky. It appeared after the thunder and lightning. Wait, thunder and lightning. Thunder...No way he's...

'By George I think he's got it.' Takoda said.

I looked at the bird in the eye.

"You're T'ist'ilal," I said in awe. "You're the thunderbird!"

'That is correct child,' Although he wasn't smiling, I could hear it in his voice. 'I am the one that helped out your people when the snow storm came rolling through.'

"Shouldn't you be bigger?" I blurted out before I covered my mouth, afraid I had offended him. To my surprise, he wasn't offended, in fact, he laughed.

'I have many forms young one,' He said. 'I thought this one was less intimidating.'

I nodded my head not entirely sure how this was less intimidating.

"Is it true that it took you so long? You know, with giving them the whale?" I asked trying to change the subject and he sighed.

'Unfortunately it is,' He said gravely. 'I could feel it coming and I wanted to act fast but I needed to consult with the others before I could.'

"Others?"

'Yes,' He said. 'The other creatures that were blessed by the great spirt. The elk, the whale, the fish, and so on. The great spirit made laws that we needed to follow one of which involves interfering in the lives of mortals.'

"They didn't want to do it?" I asked.

'Oh no,' He said shaking his head slowly. It looked a little funny. 'Quite the opposite actually, they wanted to help. The problem was agreeing on something that would be substantial enough for the tribe. Eventually it was decided that I would take a whale that was causing havoc for fisherman to the starving people.'

"I take it that the whale was torn on that idea."

'He was the one who suggested it,' He told me. 'He warned this fugitive, his word not mine, many times before hand but the whale in question did not heed his warnings so I plucked him out of the sea and gave him to the tribe.'

"If he was the one who suggested it," I started. "The why do you have a love/hate relationship with whales?"

'Because young one, the whale in question had a rather large family,' He said with a sigh. 'Many sons and dughters who, as you young people would say, hate my guts. And now they have many children and they were taught to hate me. But unlike their father, they also taught their children not to draw too much attention to themselves.'

"Ok that's the hate part," I said. "Where's the love?"

'Well alot of whales hold me in high regard for that,' He explained. 'They were happy to be rid of him. They tried for years to take him down but they were always unsuccessful. I believe it was because they were on equal footing as far as the domain goes.'

"I see," I murmured. "But why did you bring me here?"

'We've brought you here young one,' He started. 'To discuss the invading force.'

"The Volturi."

'Yes,' He said. 'Never in my existence have I ever seen a group filled with such arrogance. Nor have I seen a group have so many enemies yet at the same time be needed to protect a certain way of life. They are a conundrum.'

"You don't by any chance know how they will be travelling do you?" I asked.

'They will be in my domain,' He said angrily. 'Well half of them will take to the air. Their reserves will head to the sea. I would've blasted them out of the sky while at the same time my brothers in the ocean would've sunk their boats. But as I said before we are forbidden from interfering.'

"It's fine," I said. "We'll make do."

'Of course you will child,' He said slightly happier than before. 'You sound unsure though. Do you not believe in the abilities of those that are arriving? Or the abilities of your friends Alice and Jasper?'

"I do," I said a little offended. "I trust those that are coming. And Alice and Jasper are my friends I would trust them with my life. Wait, you know about Alice and Jasper?"

Instead of answering he flapped his wings a little. Fog started creeping in from behind the rocks. It moved towards me but stopped just 3 feet away. Then, as if it where possessed, it shot up froming a wall that would shimmer. I squinted when it started shimmering into shapes. My eyes went wide when it spoke.

_'Jazzy, it's this way.'_

"Alice," I breathed.

The fog shimmered again into the form of Alice and Jasper.

_'Are you sure darling?'_

"Should never doubt the pixie pire, Major Mood Ring," I murmured to the fog. "You know that."

The image shimmered again. It was distorted slightly as if a breeze cut through it.

_'At least the wind is on our side,'_

They sprinted in the direction the wind came from and the fog dissapated after T'ist'ilal flapped his wings.

'That was in real time,' He explained. 'That is what you young people call it no? Real time?'

I nodded my head.

'They have been making great progress,' He murmured. 'They'll be able to find their friends and the other hybrid. Fear not young one, things will work out. Now, on to more disturbing matters.'

I cocked my head to the side.

"Disturbing matters?"

'Yes,' He said shifting from talon to talon. I saw Takoda do the same thing. 'It is about one of the leaders of the Volturi, Aro I believe is his name.'

"What about him?"

'Tell me young one, do you know what many cultures are talking about when they say man was born with a hole in his heart?' He asked.

"Greed," I answered. "The hole represents greed. A bottomless pit that can never be filled. So man will always want more."

'Correct,' He said. 'Now from what I understand, when one becomes a vampire, they bring something from their past life. Sometimes it turns into a gift.'

"Yes," I said slowly. "Are you saying that Aro was already greedy as a human and now he's even greedier?"

'Are you saying he is not?' He asked sounding bemused. 'It shows in how he acts with the way he runs things. It shows in the way he accuires memebers of his guard. It's not done out of justice, it's done out of greed.'

"I know this," I said. "But what does that have to do with me?"

Takoda sighed loudly.

'For someone who is very bright you're being very dim right now,' He grunted. 'It applies to you because he'll want you for his collection. If he can't have Alice, he'll try and get you. Why do you think you and Embry have become stronger so quickly? Yes, it was an after effect of the bond between your mates, but it's also helping you prepare for the fight that is to come.'

I stood there blinking at him trying process what I just heard.

"He won't get me," I declared. "I would rather die on my feet than live on my knees."

'We know that young one,' T'ist'ilal said patiently. 'But it is just a precaution. For he will not just be interested in you, but your brothers and sisters as well when he arrives here.'

My eye twitched slightly. Knowing Aro, this interest of his may not sound so good under the surface.

'There is a way to render his power impotent if you will allow me to give you a gift,' He continued. 'It will be very painful and it will only work the first time that you meet him.'

"What sort of gift?"

'My blessing in the form of my symbol, right over your heart,' He said. 'To the outside world, it will look like a tattoo but it will hold a sample of my power. I have spoken with my brothers and sisters and they agree that you should recieve this blessing, but it is your decision.'

I started pacing. I tried to think of ways to not need this gift but I couldn't think of anything. Sure it would've been nice, but there would've been a chance that they don't stop to listen and it would be wasted on me.

"Why aren't the others getting something like this?" I asked. "It hardly seems fair that I would be the only one to get it."

'Because you will be a priority for Aro,' He explained. 'He will find ways to break you if he is allowed access to your mind. But fear not, we will be watching just in case.'

I paced some more. After a few minutes I looked at the two of them and nodded.

"I will accept it." I said.

'Good,' T'ist'ilal murmured. 'Remember though, this will be painful so I apologize for this.'

Before I could say anything, he opened his wings to their full length and flew up into the sky. Thunder rumbled and I was knocked to the ground by a strong gust of wind. I tried to get up but a lightning bolt hit me in the chest. I screamed. Another one hit me and I started crying. This bolt lingered and it trailed to different parts of my left pec. I could smell my flesh burning. I was writhing on the ground trying to get away but I couldn't.

_Try to think of something happy,_ Takoda thought sadly. _It might help._

I heard him but I couldn't stop the scream that came out of my mouth or the tears in my eyes. I tried to think of my family, my friends, my soul mate, but it hurt too much.

_What did I get myself into,_ I thought before I screamed again. I hope I wake up soon.

* * *

><p><strong>Well there's another one. This is easily the longest chapter I've written. Let me know what you thought of the dream (Although, I'm sure some of you will hate me for ending on a cliff hanger). <strong>

**Till then, happy reading.**

**- Capt. Hazard.**


	24. Reaction

TANYA POV

I couldn't have a found a better way to end the day than cuddling with Thomas. I laid my head against his chest, listening to his heart beat as he wrapped his arms around me. I was drawing meaningless patterns on his stomach when he finally went to sleep.

I looked at Irina and smiled. She was laying on her side facing me, Embry was behind her with his head on her shoulder and his arm thrown over her posessively. He was fading and soon he would be sleeping.

She caught my eyes and smiled at me.

'Who knew we would be so lucky?' She mouthed to me.

'I know right?" I mouthed back.

I would have continued but I felt Thomas get hot. Well hotter than usual and he started to shake. He was shaking so violently that I fell of the bed. I sprang to my feet when he let out a scream. I stared wide eyed as electricity crackled around his body. I heard a door slam downstairs and someone yelled "Don't touch him!"

Embry and Irina were looking at Thomas with horrified expressions as tears trickled down the side of his face. The rest of my family along with Peter and Charlotte burst into the room right when Thomas screamed again.

"What happened?" Carmen squeaked. Her eyes full of worry.

Thomas screamed again and I felt so scared. I wanted to help him but I didn't know how. I tried to reach out to him but someone caught my hand. Kate hand my wrist in a vice grip and she was shaking her head. Thomas arched his back flailed his arms while his chest started glowing.

Thunder rumbled and lightning flashed outside and Thomas wailed in agony.

"Do something!" I cried. My vision started to blur as venom filled my eyes. I've never felt so useless before. I started sobbing as Kate held me, offering words of comfort although I could tell her heart wasn't in it. She was scared too.

"Oh fuck this." Embry growled and he jumped on the bed before we could grab him. The second his hand touched Thomas he was enveloped in electricity. He cried out then was thrown back by an invisible force, sending him flying towards the wall he was standing by. The wall had a hole in it from the impact and he yelped before he fell forward. Irina and Eleazar caught him before he got to the ground.

"You idiot!" Peter snapped. "Didn't I tell you not to touch him?"

Embry just groaned in response while Irina snarled at Peter.

Thomas cried out when the light got brighter. I had to cover my eyes because the glare from the light was too much. Thomas stopped crying and started breathing hard. I opened my eyes slowly and the light was dying down. When it was completely gone, I ran to his side. I cradled his upper body while I whispered.

"Open your eye's baby," I said shaking him slightly. "Please."

He slowly opened his right eye. He locked his gaze with mine and he smiled.

"H-hey honey girl," He croaked. "What's shaking?"

"Right now," Embry said with a shaky breath. "You and me bro."

Thomas opened his other eye and turned to Embry. He frowned at him.

"What happened to you?"

"The better question is," Embry started while standing up straighter. "What the fuck happened to you?"

"That's what we all want to know." I said narrowing my eye's at Thomas. His eyes flickered around the room. He tried to sit up but he winced slightly and stopped.

"Could you help me up?" He asked me with doe like eyes, and he stuck out his lower lip to pout. I shook my head despite the fact that he looked so cute.

"You should rest."

He pouted even more. He tried again but I pushed him down.

"Let me up." He complained and I glared at him as did everyone else in the room. "Please, I need to see something."

"No."

"Well could someone pass me a mirror at least," He said sighing. "And could you help me with my shirt?"

He directed that last part towards me.

"Young man, now is not the time to check yourself out," Kate chided but she had a smile on her face. "Nor is it the time to get my sister all hot and bothered."

Thomas rolled his eyes but he smiled too.

"Please," He begged. "I just need to be sure of something."

"Does this have anything with what just happened?" I asked and he shrugged slightly.

"Possibly," He murmured. He looked really worn out and his shirt had burn marks. "That's why I need to check."

Kate left the room and came back seconds later with a mirror. I helped Thomas sit up. Then I helped him with his shirt which was a little difficult to do because Thomas kept wincing. After his shirt was off, he laid his back against my chest and I noticed one key difference with his chest: He had another tattoo. The strangest thing was if you looked closely at it, it looked more like he was branded. It was circular like his wolf tattoo but the symbols on that tattoo were contained within the circle, part of this wasn't.

There was a sort bird like tribal in the center which was had a thick red outline but was shaded with black. If you were to seperate it, the middle of it was long, it looked like a staff with pointed ends. The base had sharp points facing down that looked like feathers. There were four strands that looked like wings. Two on each side that curved outward towards the circle, it looked like the bird was soaring. The circular part of the tattoo was in the background and the colors were reversed, black outline and red shading. It didn't go through the bird nor did the bird go through it. They were sort putting emphasis on the bird without touching it. There was another piece underneath each wing that was dark then faded with swirls at the bottom. I guess it was supposed to be clouds.

Embry and Irina blinked at Thomas. Kate handed Thomas the mirror. He raised his right hand which was shaking to grasp it. He angled it so he could see the mark. He stared at it for a minute before he put the mirror down. I glanced at everyone else. They all looked even more worried. I craned my neck to look at his face. He was very pale and his eyes were distant.

"So it was real," He murmured while he glanced outside the window where the thunder and lightning stopped. "I wasn't sure it was."

"What was real?" I asked. "What happened?"

"I was given a blessing," He explained before he looked at Embry. "By T'ist'ilal."

Embry frowned.

"The thunderbird?" He asked and Thomas nodded. "He's not real."

Thunder bommed and there was a flash of lightning.

"I'd watch what you say little brother," Thomas warned. "He seemed really nice but I'm sure that he doesn't like that you said that considering what you just saw."

"But-"

"Don't," Thomas growled. "You'll just piss him off and I think that is the last thing you want to do."

"Fine," Embry snapped.

"What the fuck are you two talking about?" Kate asked. "Who the hell is Tistilool?"

"T'ist'ilal." Thomas and Embry corrected.

"Whoever," She said with an eye role. "Who is he?"

"Something that isn't real," Embry started while thunder boomed outside. "Or at least, so I thought."

"He is," Thomas said. "And to answer your question Kate, he is the thunderbird. He helped our tribe about a century and a half ago."

"How?" Carmen asked, she looked realy interested.

"There was a snow storm," He said. "Our tribe had to retreat to the mountains because the water was frozen and it was difficult to walk through the snow. They had very little food and many people were dying so the thunderbird plucked a whale out of the sea for them to eat."

"Interesting," Eleazar mused. "So you've met him?" He said that last part with a bit of hesitation.

"Yes."

"That's insane," Embry murmured. "Impossible even."

"Well then tell me brother," Thomas said quietly. "How is it I have his symbol on my chest? Why was I crying and writhing in pain? If you have a better explanation, I'm all ears." He growled out the last sentence.

"It just can't be possible," Embry said shaking his head.

"For fucks sake Embry, look at me!" Thomas roared and I flinched slightly. I didn't like that he was so upset. "I have a new tattoo seared into my flesh! Christ look at us , we turn into giant dogs for crying out loud! Do not tell me this is not possible!"

Embry just put his head down.

"If he is real, then why didn't we get his blessing?" He said quietly. "Why just you? Shouldn't all of us get it?"

Thomas relaxed a little and sighed sympathetically.

"He gave it to me so I could protect my mind." He said. Embry's head shot up and he raised an eyebrow.

"Why would you need protection?" He asked.

"From the leader of the Volturi," I tensed and hissed softly. I didn't like where this was going. "He could read my thoughts and try to find something to use against me. So I could join his guard."

I growled and I wasn't the only one. Kate, Embry, and Irina looked like they wanted to hit something. Carmen and Eleazar glared at the floor. Peter and Charlotte narrowed their eyes at nothing in particular.

"It never occured to me that he would do something along those lines," He continued. "I thought he would rather see me dead because of what I am. Now that I think about it, death seems like the better option than joining him."

"I won't allow it," I said through my teeth and Thomas turned to me with raised eyebrows. "The only way they would get you is over my pile of ashes!"

"It won't come to that," He said frowning. He looked at me and his eyes were slowly becoming that amber clolor. "If they try to touch you, I'll burn down that castle they love so much with them inside it. And if Aro thinks he can get me he has another thing coming."

"What would you do?" Embry and Kate asked at the same time. They looked at each other and smiled a little before turning back to Thomas who shrugged.

"If he tried anything, I'd rip his arms off," He said. "Then I would shove one down his throat and the other one up his ass."

He shrugged while a few of us laughed. He then proceded to tell us what happened when he fell a sleep. He told us that he saw his wolf and it was talking to him. Then he told us about when his wolf lead him up a ridge to talk to the thunderbird. He said it was a very interesting conversation until he was almost fried to death.

"He said it would be painful," He murmured then grimaced. "He wasn't kidding."

"So to sum everything up," Embry started. "You had a wacko dream. Damn, what drugs have you been taking? Because I want some."

"Why I've been hitting the bong and snorting the powder with some acid on the side then I washed it all down with a bottle of absinthe," Thomas said seriously. "It's some good shit you should try it some time."

Kate and Peter snorted while Embry laughed. The others looked bemused. I chuckled and kissed the top of his head.

"What I'm about to ask is going to be strange."

"Stranger than meeting a talking wolf and a giant bird?" Kate asked innocently. Thomas ignored her which caused her to pout.

"Tanya, Irina?" He said. "Did my heart stop beating?"

I frowned and so did Irina. Embry on the other hand, narrowed his eyes at Thomas who sighed.

"No it was still beating, why do you ask?" I said.

"That blows that theory out of the water," He mumured. "Now I've got nothing."

"You're not thinking what I think your thinking are you?" Enbry said.

"Wow," Kate said. "That's alot of thinking going on."

"Teej," Embry said ignoring Kate. He looked serious. "What were you thinking?"

"I thought I," He hesitated for a second. "I thought I was spirit walking."

Spirit walking? What was that?

"Now _that_ is impossible," Embry scowled. "Not to mention _forbidden_."

"I know the laws Embry," Thomas snapped while sitting up. He winced again and I tried to pull him back but he kept going forward. "I may have not been there when they were written, but I know them better than most of you do. I was just curious is all, it didn't feel like a dream, it felt like something more and that was the only thing that came to mind."

Embry's expression softened as he sighed.

"Sorry, this is all just a bit much you know?"

"I know," Thomas sighed. "But what's done is done."

"What's spirit walking?" Charlotte asked. She along with the others looked very interested. I was too but I was more worried than anything. Embry glanced nervously at Thomas.

"Spirit walking," Thomas started as he tried to stand up. I helped despite the fact that I wanted him to rest. He smiled gratefully before he continued. "Is sort of like Astral projection. It's what our fore fathers were able to do before we could become wolves. The last spirit warrior and chief was a man named Taha Aki. It was in his time that we gained the power to change into the wolf and when we were no longer allowed to roam the spirit world."

"Why not?" Kate asked with a raised eyebrow. Embry and Thomas adopted dark looks.

"Taha Aki was betrayed by one of his brothers," Thomas said in a soft voice but his eyes were hard. "Utlapa," He spat the name while Embry hissed. "Thought we should make the Makah's and the Hoh's bow at our feet. They were afraid of what we could do. To them it was worse than black magic. We convinced them that we wouldn't harm them and they never tried to wage war with us as long we stayed away from them and their land."

He and Embry shared a look before they laughed. All of us frowned. They noticed our looks and they stopped.

"Sorry it just reminded me of the treaty we made with Cullens," Thomas said and then continued with the story. "Utlapa didn't like that idea so he bided his time and waited for the right moment to take out Taha Aki."

He paused and made a face while Embry glared at the floor. Irina frowned at him and I shot Thomas a worried look. The others were really into this story.

"When a spirit warrior enters the spirit world, their spirits leave their body," He continued and a few people gasped. "Your body would be an empty shell, and to the outside world it would look like you died."

"So that's why you asked if your heart stopped beating?" Irina asked and he nodded without looking at her. "I can see why this was stopped, it sounds dangerous."

"It is," Embry agreed, "But that's not the reason why."

"Then what was?" I asked and he motioned for Thomas to continue.

"Apparently spirit walking had it's benefits," We all gave him incredulous looks except Embry. "We could influence nature or animals to protect our tibe. This was stopped when Utlapa stole Taha Aki's body."

"He stole his body?" Peter asked.

"Yes," Thomas said. "Utlapa originally had the idea to kill him, but he saw his body lying there and another thought came to him. He went to spirit world and jumped into Taha Aki's body. Taha Aki tried to stop him but he didn't listen."

"Why didn't he jump into Utlapa's body?" Eleazar asked.

"He would have, if Utlapa didn't slit his own throat," Thomas said all of us gasped except Embry. "After that Taha Aki was trapped in the spirit world. He saw so many horrible things when he was there. Spirits that never moved on, spirits of traitors, liars etc. He was nearly driven mad."

"Utlapa?" Carmen asked. "What did he do?"

"He made life for the tribe a living hell," Thomas said through his teeth. "And he did it using Taha Aki's name and body. He never allowed the other warriors to spirit walk for fear that his betrayal would be discovered."

"Then how was he stopped?" Charlotte asked.

"Taha Aki tried many things," Thomas said. "He sent harsh winds, rain anything to try and stop him. He tried sending a wolf to kill Utlapa. Unfortunately, he didn't count on people defending him and the wolf ended up killing a young boy."

"Why would people defend him if he was making their lives miserable?" Kate asked.

"There was no one to challange him at the time and no one was strong enough to," Thomas said before he went on with the story. "Taha Aki was so grief stricken that he never tried again. He was so miserable until he saw a wolf the size of a horse."

He paused to smile and so did Embry.

"He was weary of this wolf but he was also jealous of it as well," He said and a few of us cocked our heads to the side while some just blinked at Thomas. "He envied the wolf because at least it had a body when he didn't."

A look of understanding passed over our faces.

"And that's when he got an idea," He said with a grin which Embry matched. "He asked the wolf to make room for him so he could use his body. They were both very uncomfortable but they learned to work together. He walked into the villiage as much to the tribe's dismay."

"Yeah, he should have thought that one through," Embry said. "But he was desperate so I can't really blame him."

"Me neither besides," Thomas said. "I think what we do is a little cooler than that."

"Yeah." Embry agreed.

"Now where was I," Thomas mused. "Oh yes, he went into the villiage and tried to convince the warriors that he was the real chief. He would yelp the songs that they sang and stared at them intently. They knew this wolf was different and they had a feeling that a spirit was influencing it."

"But they wouldn't be able to check right?" Peter asked. "I mean they weren't allowed to."

"True," Thomas said. "But that didn't stop one of them from checking. A brave man named Yut defied the orders he was given and entered the spirit world. He was overjoyed that he saw his brother and chief but that only lasted so long. Utlapa slit Yut's throat when he rejoined his body. He called him a traitor and there was nothing the others could say because technically he did go against what he was ordered to do."

"Bastard." Kate hissed. I agreed with her and from what I could tell so did everyone else.

"Taha Aki was so enraged that the wolf couldn't take it anymore," Thomas said. "The anger that he was feeling was that of a man so the wolf shuddered and changed it's form. In it's place stood Taha Aki. It wasn't the same body, but the tribe knew that it was him. They could feel his power, and so could Utlapa. He tried to run but with his new found speed and strength, Taha Aki grabbed him and crushed the life out of him."

"Serves him right." Peter grumbled and we all nodded in agreement.

"So that's how you all can turn into wolves?" I asked. Thomas and Embry nodded.

"Ever since then," Thomas said. "We've been going strong for what, at least 10 generations?" He directed that last part at Embry who shrugged,

"I think so," He said. "I never really looked at the family trees but I wouldn't be surprised if it were."

"Well," Thomas said with a sigh. "I guess I should get back to bed." He looked at me.

"Do you need to go hunting?"

"I'm fine," I told him. "I may hunt in a few days though."

He nodded and kissed me on the cheek. Kate smirked at me before flashing out of the room. The others followed. Embry and Irina plopped down on the bed. Thomas pulled me with him.

"You know," I started while I laid on top of his right side. "You gave me quite a scare."

"All of us." Embry added and Thomas sighed.

"I didn't plan on doing that," He grumbled. "It's not as if I made the decision to scare the shit out of all of you."

"We know that," I said softly before pecking him on the lips. "But we were scared none the less."

"Sorry," He murmured.

"It's fine," I said. "Just don't do it again."

"Trust me, I won't," He said "Once was enough."

I stared at the recent addition on his chest.

"Will it go away when your finished?" I asked. "Or will it stay?"

"I'm not sure," He said thoughtfully. "I think the mark will still be there but not the power. Why, do you hate it?"

"No," I said. "It's a great design I just hate the way you got it."

He didn't say anything, he just ran his fingers through my hair and yawned. He placed his right hand on my hip and entwined his left hand with one of mine. Not too long after he fell a sleep again.

~~~~~~~THE NEXT MORNING~~~~~~~

T.J. POV

Usually it would be almost every man's dream to wake up next to a beautiful woman. Even more so when she happens to be your reason for existing. But you don't want to wake up with your face between her breasts when your pack mate and her sister are in the room. I pulled away slowly while I blushed.

"Nice and comfy there Teej?" I heard Embry joke and Irina giggled. I turned to scowl at him.

"Shut up." I grumbled. I looked at Tanya and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry honey girl."

"It's fine," She said kissing my forehead. "You sound very cute when you talk in your sleep."

I groaned.

"Yeah you kept saying 'Mine' or 'Don't even think about it'," Irina said. "You slapped Embry when he rolled close to you and snarled."

"That doesn't sound so bad," I said sitting up. I winced slightly when I did. "Anything else?"

"Yeah you kept rubbing your face between Tanya's rack," Embry said as he dogded Irina's hand. "You kept grabbing her ass too."

"And why were you watching?" I snapped although my face felt hot. "Again, I'm sorry Tanya."

"It was funny," Embry said with a shrug and Irina slapped the back of his head. Tanya kissed me again and smiled.

"It's fine," She said then whispered in my ear."If we get out of this, I want you to do that to me more often."

"Is your room sound proof?" I asked even though I'm sure my face was red as a tomato.

"No," She said shaking her head. "But I'll make sure it is before we get there."

"Will you do that?" I heard Embry ask Irina.

"No," She said. "I want everyone to hear you say my name when I make you my bitch."

Tanya and I started laughing so hard that we fell off the bed. I could hear three people laughing down stairs. I guess Carmen and Eleazar were trying hard not to laugh. I laughed even harder when I saw the affronted expression on Embry's face.

"B-b-but," He sputtered and Irina silenced him with a kiss before she sashayed out of the room. Embry blinked for a second before he followed.

"What time is it?" I asked after I calmed down and I rubbed my eyes.

"Around 9," She answered. "Peter called Edward and told him to come here around 10. He said you would need the time to get ready."

"Yeah," I said with a yawn. "Garrett will be here at 11, unless he encounters something along the way."

"Such as?"

"Another vampire or something," I said with a shrug while I helped her get to her feet. "I'm gonna shower and change."

"May I join you?" She asked slyly and I chuckled.

"I wish you could," I said and she frowned at me. "But if you did we would never get clean and we would never leave."

"You make it sound like it's a bad thing," She teased but sighed. "I'll see you later."

She stood on the tip of her toes and kissed my cheek. She left the room and I got my clothes ready.

~~~~~~~10:55 AM~~~~~~~

We all sat in the living room waiting for Garrett to get here. The atmosphere wasn't as tense yesterday although Jacob looked uncomfortable. I think part of it was because Tanya kept giving him disapproving looks. I frowned at her and tapped her shoulder. She turned to me and I raised an eyebrow. She sighed and placed her head on my shoulder.

"Later," She whispered although everyone heard her. This should be another eventful day.

Edward shot out of his seat and headed to the front door.

"Hello Garrett," He said. "It's been awhile."

"Edward," Garrett said. "It's nice to see you too."

"What did Emmett and Rosalie tell you exactly?" Edward asked as they shuffled towards the living room.

"They said you needed help." He said as he stepped into the room.

He was tall, rangy, with eager ruby eyes and long sandy hair he kept tied back. It was apparent to me that he was an adventurer. I imagined that he could have been presented with any challenge and he would have accepted, just to test himself. Kind of like Emmett but something tells me that Garrett had more sense to call it quits when he had to. Emmett couldn't do that.

He scanned the room and froze in his spot when his eyes stopped on Kate and Nessie. The others must've thought that he was looking Nessie, but me and Edward knew that he was looking at Kate.

"Kate," I said looking at her. "This is Garrett."

The others who didn't know raised an eyebrow at me.

"Garrett," I said turning to him. "This Katerina Denali or Kate for short."

I got up from my seat and made my way over to Garrett who was still staring at Kate. I stood behind him and grasped his shoulders. I pushed him a little and guided him to Kate. We stopped about two feet away and I stood next to him. I held my hands out to Nessie, who seemed to understand that Kate needed to give Garrett her undivided attention and leaned towards me. I picked her up and placed her on my hip. I stared the two of them before I rolled my eyes and clapped Garrett on the back.

"Say something," I said. "Talk, interact, do something."

I bounded my way back to a very confused Tanya who raised an eyebrow at me.

_You'll see,_ I mouthed to her and I started thumb wrestling with Nessie. She giggled when my thumb pinned her's down and she tried to wiggle free. Kate snapped out of her daze and smiled shyly at Garrett who smiled back and he held his hand out to her.

"Hi." He said.

She took it and the both gasped. A look of understanding passed over the others and the Denali's sighed happily. Nessie patted my cheek and placed her hand there.

_Is everything alright?_ She asked and I nodded.

She dropped her hand and reached for Tanya who took her from me. Garrett was watching the scene with his head cocked to the side. He looked at Edward.

"She's a hybrid," He said answering Garretts thought. "She is my biological daughter. Carried by my mate when she was still human."

He looked at Nessie with a curious expression.

"The Volturi are coming." Edward said and Garrett frowned.

"How did they find out about her?"

Edward turned to me and I sighed. I looked at Garrett and told him the story.

* * *

><p><strong>Here's a short chapter. The next one will have some more stuff with the visting ClansNomads. The one after that will feature the Volturi and then I think I will have one more chapter for the ending. Wow, I can't believe I'm almost finished with this story. It's kinda hard to believe. Big thanks to 2cool4you for letting me use the phrase "wacko dream" it really came in handy.**

**Happy reading,**

**-Capt. Hazard**


	25. Gathering

T.J. POV

Garrett was very easy to convince after I told him the story. He was also very eager, well maybe a little too eager. He didn't have a problem with me and Embry because he said we didn't smell to him. He was a little hesitant to go near Jake because he would either scowl or glare at the floor. I told him that he doesn't really like human drinkers but he's keeping his mouth shut because our friends need the help. He and Kate seem a little shy around each other but I'm happy for them.

After we spoke to Garrett, I lead the others to the tree that Tanya and I were at yesterday so we could talk.

**FLASHBACK**

Embry and I sat on the ground with our girls in our laps. No one said anything for a good 5 minutes.

"So," Embry said. "Where do we start?"

"Was there anything you two wanted to tell us?" Tanya asked. "Anything? I promise we'll listen."

I looked at Embry who sighed.

"Irina," He said and she stared at him. "I uh I-I-"

"Yes," She said. "What is it?"

"I uh," He looked at the ground nervously. "I had sex before I met you."

He flinched like he was expecting to be hit. When the hit never came he stared at her.

"I had a feeling," She said softly. "You had to much expierence at kissing and caressing to not have done something. And I can't really hold it against you because I have as well. Although," She narrowed her eyes at him and he gulped. "If you so much as look at another woman, I will hurt you in ways that you couldn't even imagine."

His eyes widened and he nodded his head. Tanya looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

"Well," I started before I turned to Embry. "I can't speak for Embry when I say this, but I love you Tanya Denali and there is something that you need to hear from me and not someone else."

"I'm listening." She said in an even tone but I could hear her voice crack slightly. She must be scared of what I might say.

"I found out about three months ago that my great grandfather was told a prophecy by a shaman," I glanced at Embry who tightened his hold on Irina who looked confused. "It said that there would be a time when an Alpha would find an immortal soulmate. It also said that his right hand could predict the future and had the blood of an Alpha and a Beta. They were talking about me and Jacob."

She blinked at me a few times before she spoke.

"Are you saying that our bond was predicted by a member of your tribe?"

"Yes," I said. "It said alot of things. Things that I can't really bring myself to care about right now with what's going. But there was one thing that does fit with all of this."

"And what is that?"

"It said that we would be the first of many that would unite our people with vampires. I think what's going on is what it was refering to."

"Is there a reason why you didn't tell me this earlier?" She asked with a slight edge in her voice. I need to word this carefully.

"One," I started. "I didn't think it was important. And two, I didn't want you to think that I was only with you because of some prophecy my great grandfather heard, I'm with you because I want to be."

She just stared at nothing.

"Please Tanya," I begged. "I'm sorry I didn't say anything before but I thought it was the best option. I meant what I said when I told you I love you."

She sighed and smiled sadly at me.

"Sorry," She said. "I thought you were going to tell me something terrible, but this was almost as bad. I really thought that you-"

I cut her off with a kiss. She kissed me back but it wasn't like yesterday, she wouldn't open her mouth. She's either afraid that I didn't mean what I said or she's afraid that I'll get venom into my system. I placed my forehead against her's and closed my eyes.

"You don't believe me?" I asked doing my best to keep my voice even.

"I do," She said. "But I don't want my venom-"

"I would've been dead by now," I pointed out by cutting her off. "Even if a little got into my system, I wouldn't be here. So I'm fine."

She sighed in exasperation.

"That doesn't mean we can't be cautious," She grumbled. "Right Irina?"

I opened one eye to see her nod and Embry sulked.

"Really?" He asked and she nodded again. "How do you feel about all of this? With the prophecy I mean?" She asked him.

"I'm neither here nor there on that," He said with a shrug. "I didn't even think of it until T.J. pointed it out."

"Oh so it's my fault?" I teased while looking at him and he rolled his eyes.

"You know what I meant," He said before he looked at Irina. "I know if I say this now it would probably seem that I'm only saying this because he said it," He inclined his head towards me. "But I do love you Irina Denali, make no mistake about that."

She smiled and gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

"That's gonna get old very fast," He grumbled as he snagged a peck on her lips. "We'll be fine fine, right Teej?" He said that last part a little mockingly but he was being serious. I nodded in agreement.

They both sighed.

"How about we talk to Carlisle?" I asked. "He could run tests at the hospital or bring some equipment here, we could see if it will be alright."

This idea appeased them so they nodded.

**END FLASHBACK**

We spent the rest of the day just talking about each other and our interests. Tanya is a very keen painter and Irina likes to write. Embry said that she be published but she reminded him that he never read anything she wrote so he couldn't say that. He just waved it off and said that she should at least consider it. I told Tanya that I would like to see her paintings and wouldn't mind learning a thing or two.

Me and Embry told them about our appreaciation for anime, comic books and action movies. I told Tanya about my Norton Commando and she said I could have it shipped to Alaska so I wouldn't have to ride it there. If everything goes of with out a hitch that is.

I asked her why she kept looking at Jacob that way and she said I already knew the answer. I frowned at her until I thought about the conversation I had with before. She was giving them those looks because of the fact that he imprinted on Nessie. I sighed and let it go for now. I didn't want to have two Denali sisters on Jacob's ass if I brought it up.

The Irish coven was a group that I was very interested in. Edward told me that the leader of the Coven, a woman named Siobhan, was an old friend of Carlisle's. They met when Carlisle traveled through the United Kingdom in the first 10 years of him being a vampire. They kept in touch and would visit each other from time to time.

**FLASHBACK**

Edward had lead the coven to living room where we were all sitting down. Siobhan had this immense presence about her. She had a great muscular tone that moved in smooth undulations. She had long black hair, a soft heart shape faced, and ruby red eyes.

Then there was Liam, her tall, hard faced mate. He had light brown hair, a long nose, and a decent frame. His eyes were ruby red but they weren't as bright as the others. His posture was tense and his eyes were cold. I couldn't tell if that's how he usually was, or if he was just being over cautious. Either way, his stance didn't go unnoticed by everyone else and was not appreciated by Jacob who scowled.

The youngest member, who was also the talented one (although I was told that this subject was debated several times) whose name was Maggie, had bright red hair which was so curly, that it looked like she had red ringlets for hair. Kinda like Nessie's except her's is bronze. She had a slightly angelic looking face like Jane's but she didn't have that smug look that Jane had. She wasn't as imposing as the other two, but she was just as important because of her gift. She could tell when someone was lying by a feeling she would get or by one's facial expressions. Siobhan and Liam trusted her word and judgement.

"So," Siobhan started while eyeing us curiously. Her accent was thick but her voice was soft and held this power and wisdom to it. "What seems to be the problem?"

Her gaze fell on Nessie who smiled at her. She raised an eyebrow at Edward and he quickly explained the story we'll be telling people. Liam's expression softened a fraction as he and Siobhan turned to Maggie. She smiled at Nessie.

"He's telling the truth." She said simply. Her accent wasn't as thick as Siobhan's but her voice was just as soft.

"Would you like to hear here explanation?" Edward asked and they all raised an eyebrow at him. "She has a gift that's perfect for telling stories." He said.

They all shrugged and nodded.

**END FLASHBACK**

They were very fascinated with Nessie and just like I said, they were willing to help. Liam loosened up a little and he was actually very nice to talk to. He stayed away from Jacob because of the look on his face and the bad smell, which me and Embry apparently didn't have anymore. I guess it was because the imprinting bond was changing alot about us.

Maggie was very full of energy. If it was possible to find someone more hyper than Alice, Maggie would be it. Siobhan reminded me of Carlisle in the sense that she was very curious about alot of things. Like us for instance. She asked why we would be willing to fight along side people who should be their enemies. I simply told her that they were our friends and we always help our friends. When she asked Tanya and Irina why they were close to me and Embry, they said we were their mates. She blinked at them for a few moments while Maggie told her it was true. Actually, her exact words were, 'As strange as it is, they are telling the truth'.

Embry almost jumped down her throat for saying that but Irina reminded him that most of their kind will not be so understanding. He frowned and said that it shouldn't matter. She said that she agreed but said that it was the way it is. I told him it was true and one person coming here will be very vocal about it. Tanya asked me who it was and I said it was Amun. I told her that I caught a few glimpses of him make some snide comments and I told Embry and Jake that they needed to ignore him. When they asked me why I said that it wouldn't be good to start a fight with anyone especially him. I told them that we needed all the numbers that we could get even though I disliked Amun and will probably hate him by the end of this.

Speaking of Amun, he couldn't have been a bigger asshole even if you paid him. Honestly, he makes Paul look like a damn saint.

**FLASHBACK**

"I will not let any memeber of my coven touch her!" Amun snarled as soon as he saw Nessie. He barely stepped into living room when he started glaring at her while she was in Carmen's arms. The others looked at her in interest. "We're leaving."

"Amun-" Edward tried to say but couldn't get another word in because Amun cut him off.

"No Edward," He said coldly. "We are not touching that_ thing_."

Several hisses and growls were heard but Amun just ignored us. Nessie frowned and it looked like she was going to cry. The Irish coven along with Peter and Charlotte glared coldly at him. They had really come to like Nessie and she liked them too. Jacob had a murderous look in his eyes. I guess the only thing holding him back was the fact that Nessie was in the room and he didn't want to scare her. Carmen and Bella looked furious. Eleazar, Embry, and Garrett scowled at him. Irina, Tanya, Kate and I bared our teeth. Edward was the only one without a dangerous look on his face. He had a tight smile on his face and his eyes were almost black with hate but he was holding back.

"We are leaving, now." He commanded.

"You know Amun," Benjamin murmured. "I think this location will be a nice change of scenery for me and Tia. What do you think my love?"

She looked at him and nodded.

"It would be a nice change." She said and Amun narrowed his eyes at them.

"I said we are leaving," He told them. "Did you not hear me?"

"We did," Benjamin said. "You and Kebi are more than welcomed to leave but I thought it would be nice to stay amongst friends, and help them in their time of need."

"I said we were leaving." Amun repeated.

"And I said you are more than welcome to," Benjamin responded with a smile. "But as I said this area would be a nice change for Tia and I."

I liked this kid. Well person, I couldn't really call him a kid because despite the fact he looked younger than me, he was at least over a hundred and eighty years old. He was able to make a subtle threat yet at the same time make it sound conversational.

"I am not leaving you here with _them_." Amun hissed and I had to hold back the growl that was building in my chest. What was he trying to say?

"Then join us my friend," Benjamin said cheerfully. "What better way to spend our time than to help our companions?" He raised an eyebrow which Tia mirrored. I would've laughed at Amun's expression but I kept it together.

"Fine," He said through his teeth. "We will stay, but we are leaving at the first sign of trouble."

Jacob snorted in disugust which did not go unoticed by Amun. He narrowed his eyes at Jacob who did the same thing.

"And just what is your problem-" Amun started but stopped mid sentence and sniffed the air. He made a face and stepped back. "So that's what that smell is, who invited the dog!"

"Don't call him that!" Renesmee snapped surprising alot of us. It reminded me of when Claire yelled at us for picking on Leah.

Eleazar, Garrett, and Embry loosened their scowls and smiled at Nessie. Actually Embry was giving her a goofy grin. I smiled at her as did the three sisters. The Irish Coven, Peter and Charlotte blinked at her. Carmen and Bella tried to give her reproachful looks but failed because of the smiles they had. Edward tensed and a vision of Amun lunging at Nessie went through my mind so I did the one thing I could think of: I ran to protect her.

I bolted in her direction, stood in front of her, and planted my feet. It was good timing, because Amun had moved forward with his right hand out front. Edward caught it but he kept coming forward so I shoved him back. He looked at me as if he just noticed me for the first time and he frowned while everyone else growled at him.

"How did you-Where did you-" He stumbled over his words before he narrowed his eyes. "What are you boy? You aren't human. I would think you were like him." He jerked his head towards Jacob who growled. "But you don't smell so what are you?"

I didn't answer.

"Well?" He demanded. "What are you boy?"

I gazed at the other members of his coven. They were staring at me in interest but Tia and Benjamin also looked apologetic before they scowled at Amun. I locked eye's with Amun and he looked annoyed.

"Answer the question!" He snapped. "What are you? Did you not hear me boy?"

"Oh I heard you alright," I mumured. "I'm just not going to answer."

"And why not?" He hissed.

"Why should I answer your question after that stunt you just pulled?" I sneered.

"She is an insolent child!" He spat. "She needs to learn to respect her elders."

"I'd watch what I say if I were you Amun," I said over the growling that ensued. "Her mother is a newborn and I have half a mind to let her beat you senseless."

"Oh, and what is the other half telling you?" He spat.

"To do it myself!" I hissed.

"As if you could take me," He said darkly. "I have centuries on you boy and what do you have?"

My eyes glazed over while my nails extended into claws, and my teeth became sharper.

"Wouldn't you like to know," I said. His eyes were wide and he stepped back. "Not so confident now are you?"

"What-"

"Am I?" I finished for him. "I'm not going to answer that question because I don't owe you anything!" I snarled.

He just stared at me and Benjamin stepped forward.

"May I?" He asked Edward. Edward looked at him and nodded.

"What are you doing Benjamin?" Amun asked and he ignored him.

"Could you bring her forward Carmen?"

She hesitated.

"It will be alright," Edward said. "He doesn't want to hurt her."

"Don't worry Carmen," I said giving her a sideways glance. "I'll be watching."

She nodded and moved forward. Amun tried to move forward but stopped at my glare.

"Hello little one," Benjamin said. "My name is Benjamin, what is your name?"

"Renesmee," She said with a smile. "But you can call me Nessie."

Bella groaned and a few of us laughed as Benjamin listened to the story.

**END FLASHBACK**

Amun tried to keep a tighter leash on Benjamin after that. Tried being the key word in this situation but he couldn't be stopped. Benjamin and Tia quickly became friends with the Irish Coven as well as the Denali's. Embry said that he liked him and I had to admit, he and Tia were very easy to get along with. Jacob actually started warming up to a few of the vampires but he mostly kept to himself.

Carlisle came back a week after he left with an old friend from England. His name was Alistair and he was a tracker though his gift wasn't as strong and accurate as Demetri's. He was a misathropic, brooding vampire that took Carlisle's word when he explained the story but he refused to touch Nessie. He was more calm about it than Amun but he liked to sulk, He practically made himself at home in the Cullen's attic. He was a curious case. He didn't really like anyone yet he considered Carlisle a close acquaintance but he never visted more than once a century.

He was highly suspicious of authority especially the Volturi. With everything going on his fears were now confirmed. He kept complaining about them find out that he was here and that anyone who Carlisle has talked to will be on their list. He said it would also mean centuries on the run for anyone who could get away.

The other nomads that came by were Mary and Randall. They've been friends for along time but they never traveled together. They listened to the story, and said that they would be witnesses for us. They came around the same time that Emmett and Rosalie came back.

The next two vampires that came were the ones that Alice and Jasper had just met in the Amazon. They were a wild pair, who were tall and had feline like features with long braids and red eyes which seemed restless. Carlisle wasn't kidding when he said they wore animal fur, but seeing them in the flesh was different from the image I had in my head.

**FLASHBACK**

"Zafrina and Senna!" Carlisle exclaimed as he saw the Amazonians. "Where is Karichi though? I've never seen you three apart."

"Alice said that we need to split up," The taller one of the two said in a deep, rough voice. "We do not like to be away from each other for too long because it get's very uncomfortable. Alice said that we were needed here and Karichi was needed elsewhere. That's alll we were told. It sounded like she was in a great hurry...?"

That last part trailed off into a question.

Carlisle motioned for Bella to bring Renesmee. She seemed a bit reluctant but went over to them. The Amazons were very calm throughout the story despite their fierce appearance. They seemed quite taken with Renesmee just as much as the others, save for Amun, his mate, and Allistair.

Edward was estatic to have the Amazonians here because if the Volturi did not listen then she could tell the story with her gift or blind the enemy. She then proceeded to show Edward some images because she couldn't show Bella any. This didn't make her feel put out it actually she seemed amused and intriuged.

"It's a very straightforward illusion," Edward said as Zafrina shifted restlessly. Senna mirrored her action slightly. "She can make most people see whatever she wants them to see, and nothing else. For example, right now I appear to be alone in the middle of a rain forest. It's so clear I might believe it, except for the fact that I can still feel you in my arms."

Zafrina's lips twitched and Edward grinned after his eyes refocused.

"Impressive." He said.

"Can I see?" Nessie asked reaching for Zafrina. Zafrina turned to regard her.

"What would you like to see little one?" She asked.

"What you showed daddy." She said simply and Zafrina nodded. Nessie's face went blank and she stared off into space. After a few seconds she smiled.

"More." She commanded and Zafrina complied.

**END FLASHBACK**

I wanted laugh when she said that but I kept quiet. It probably would have looked funny. Anyway, those two were practically joined at the hip after that.

Then there was the training that we had to help Bella with. She wasn't bad but she lacks confidence.

**FLASHBACK**

"Focus Bella," I said as we circled each other in a small clearing not far from the house. "This is important. You can't under any circumstance, let me get by you."

She nodded and charged at me. I charged at her and she swung at me. I caught her wrist, ducked under her arm and yanked her arm back so I could flip her. I spun around and stared down at her.

"Again?" I asked sounding a little bored. We've been training for an hour and she could barely lay a hand on me. Out of the cornor of my eye I could see Edward scowling.

"If you don't want to be here Edward," I started while looking back at Bella who was dusting herself off. "You can leave. Unless you want to help with the training?"

I saw Bella look at him hopefully before her face fell and she turned back to me.

"Again." She said in a dead tone.

I volunteered to be one of her teachers after Edward said that he wouldn't do it. I thought that with my gift, I could sort of act like Felix or Demetri who, according to Eleazar, were very good at predicting their opponents moves. Tanya reluctantly agreed to let me do it only because I pointed out that it would be good for Bella to get as much training as she could. I also said it would be good for me and Embry.

The Denali's, especially the sisters, all had more knowledge when it came to fighting and Garrett was a very patient teacher. I was too but I had half a mind to hold back, and let her hit me, just to give her spirits a boost. But I thought better of it because ultimately, the enemy wouldn't hold back and she would never learn anything.

She charged at me but this time she had her arms to the side. Her idea was to wrap her arms around me and wrestle me to the ground. I had two options, I could roll to the side and avoid her or I could go into a two point stance then a three point stance. I went with option two.

A two point stance and three point stance is what linemen, both offensive and defensive, do in football just before the Center linemen hikes the ball to the Quarterback.

I know it sounds stupid but there was something my uncle Jumbo (That's his nickname by the way. I doubt there would be a woman in the world that would be comfortable with naming their kid Jumbo) said when he came to visit. He was an offensive lineman in college and he would've went pro but he tore his ACL and it never healed correctly. He wasn't saddend by this, because he became a coach for the local highschool and he taught the next generation how to play football as he put it, 'correctly'.

He said, 'You should get as low as you can. The lower you are, the more chance you have at defeating your opponent.'

I crouched into a two point stance when Bella was five feet away. I went lower into my three point stance when she about two feet away. I bolted towards Bella at the right momemnt.

CRACK!

Was the sound that was made when we clashed. I wrapped my arms around her waist and she flailed her arms. I guess she wasn't expecting me to do that. We rolled around for few moments before she placed her hands on my chest and shoved me back. I flew through the air before I crashed into something. I heard something snap then creak. I looked up to see that I landed into a tree and I broke it on impact. It was going to fall on me so I rolled away.

CRASH!

Was the sound it made when it fell to the ground.

"Sorry!" Bella wailed. "I'm so sorry!"

I sat up and gave her an exasperated look.

"Isabella," I said in a teacherly tone and she grimaced. I swear I saw Edward grin at me. "The enemy is not going to apologize to you, so why are you doing that?"

I sprang to my feet to dust myself off. After I did I raised an eyebrow at Bella and I noticed the others had bemused expressions. All except Tayna who had a strange look on her face. She was frowning but she was also smiling. Something tells me it was because of what just happened. I rolled my eyes.

"Tatiana," I said sweetly and she blinked. "I'm fine. Nothing's broken and I'm not bleeding so it's all good."

She rolled her eyes but grinned at me.

"Now Bella," I said turning to her. "You did well, do you want to keep training?"

"Fight training?" She asked and I nodded. "No but I would like to work on my gift."

"Ok," I said shrugging. "But if you want to train with me, just say the word." She nodded and bounded her towards Edward. They held hands and flashed towards the mansion as did the others. Tanya made her way over to me. She didn't say anything but she gave me an inspection with her eyes.

"Turn around." She said after looking at me. I rolled my eyes but complied. When I turned around I felt her hand on my back.

"Does that hurt?" She asked.

"No."

She applied pressure.

"Now?"

"No."

She apllied more pressure.

"No-"

I cut her off by spinning around and pulling her close. I cupped her face leaned forward and kissed her gently.

"I know you worry," I told her as I traced the left side of her jaw with my finger. "I would never tell you that you are not allowed to worry about me. However, I would hope that if I told you I was ok that you would take my word for it."

She made a face as she placed her hands on shoulders.

"You make it sound like I don't trust you," She said softly. "Which is false because I do."

"I didn't mean it like that," I said as I place my hands on her hips. "It just looks that way."

She sighed.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be." I said with a shrug. "There's one thing that's bugging me though."

"What's that?" She said tensing. I should have stated that better.

"Amun." I said.

"What about him?" She said relaxing.

"I think he might know what I am, or he's close to it."

"And that's a bad thing?"

"It might be," I said. "If he uses it against you."

"Your concern is touching," She murmured. "But I can deal with Amun."

"I know," I said. "I didn't mean to make it sound like you were incapable of doing that, it's just I don't want to be a tool that's used against you."

She chuckled.

"There is no way that could happen," She said. "I doubt Amun could find a way of using you against me without looking like an even bigger prick than he already is."

I barked out a laugh before I kissed her forehead.

"Do you want to head back?" I asked and she shook her head.

"Let's stay here for awhile." She said wrapping her arms around me.

"Sure, why not?"

**END FLASHBACK**

We stayed there until it was dark just talking about whatever came to our minds. I think Tanya did it to take my mind off of Amun. It would have worked had the next thing not happened.

**FLASHBACK**

We all gathered in the living room. It was a little cramped but we made do. Carlisle had brought a huge dry erase board with wheels from the attic so we could use it. He wanted lay out our positions in the clearing. Edward suggested I mark the areas we need to be in because I knew where they would be. I shrugged and took the pen. I drew a line down the middle of the board. I drew another line on the right side of the board in green marker to mark the trees. I was about to talk when Amun opened his mouth.

"And how exactly," He drawled. "Does this dog know any better than we do?"

We ignored him. I told the others to do this before hand. I have no idea how he found out what I am but I just shrugged it off. I grabbed a red pen and drew X's on the left side of the line.

"This is the Volturi," I said indicating to the X's. I grabbed a blue pen and drew circles on the right side of the line and behind the green line. "This is us," I said pointing to the circles. "The Cullens and the Denali's will be here," I pointed to the first group of circles. "Carlisle, Edward, Bella, and Nessie will be in front," I turned to them and they nodded though Bella did it with a frown. Jake narrowed his eyes at me and I rolled mine. "You can stay close by." I told him and he nodded.

"So he can play guard dog?" Amun commented.

"For the love of god man shut up!" Siobhan snapped and Amun gave her an irritated look. He would have said something but he looked at the members of her Coven who gave him a cold look and backed off. Siobhan looked at me and smiled a little. She may not understand how me and Tanya are together but she was nice to me.

"Please continue."

"These circles here," I said pointing to the line of circles behind the green line. "Are my brothers and sisters."

Amun snorted but said nothing.

"They will wait behind the trees until the right moment to step into the clearing."

"Why?" Maggie asked.

"Because they will give the Volturi pause." I said and Amun laughed.

"As if puppies could scare them," He snorted. "Tell me boy, how could you dogs scare the Italian Coven when none of us could."

"Because," I said slowly as if I were talking to a small child. "Caius is afraid of werewolves and they will be out numbered should it come to a fight."

"Who said it won't." Allistair commented from the attic, stopping his mumbling for a moment, and I looked at the ceiling.

"Do you want to come down here Allistair?" I asked. "It would be easier for me to talk to you."

"Why?" He asked.

"Because I feel like I'm having a conversation with the ceiling," I murmured and a few people chuckled. "And it's a very silly feeling."

He snorted but he didn't address me again, just went back to mumbling stuff.

I looked back to Amun who stared blankly at me.

"No he isn't," He sneered as if the exchange I had before with Allistair didn't happen. "I've known Caius for along time and he's never said anything about that."

"How can you be this dense?" I said and he hissed. "Why would anyone say what makes them afraid to anyone? That would be the dumbest thing to do."

"And how would you know mutt?" He spat while the others hissed.

"Do you not know what I can do?" I asked and he looked stumped. "I can see the future. I'm the first of my kind to do so. I saw the look in Caius' eyes when he looks at us. His face was screwed up into a sneer but his eyes gave everything away. He will be terrified. Now," I said as he looked at me in disbelief. "If you don't have any more idiotic comments to make I will continue."

I was about to talk again but Amun opened his trap.

"You should keep your pets on a tight leash Carlisle," He murmured. "Or they won't be so obedient."

"They are not my pets Amun," Carlisle said stiffly. "You know that."

"And they don't need leashes," Tanya snapped. "But you need a damn muzzle."

Emmett, Garrett, Embry, and Jake roared with laughter. The others joined in except Kebi but her lips twitched a little before she scowled. Amun narrowed his black eyes at Tanya and I knew I wouldn't like what he said next.

"And what would you know about muzzles Tanya?" He said venomously. "I didn't think you and that dog had anything going on because I thought beastiality was beneath you, clearly I was wrong." I couldn't stop the shaking that ensued and the others growled menacingly at Amun even Tia and Benjamin. "I guess once you're a whore, nothing is beneath you."

That did it.

Before I could stop myself, I lunged at Amun. I pulled him out of his seat and punched him the jaw. There was a sickening crack as he flew back into a nearby wall.

"Watch what you say leech," I hissed. I never used the slurs my pack mates came up with because I was never one to use derogatory remarks against anyone, no matter how annoying or harsh they were being. But this was different. No one, and I mean NO ONE insults _my_ Tanya and gets away with it. "Just because she bested you, doesn't mean that you can call her that."

He didn't respond but he charged at me. He pulled his right hand back and threw a punch. Just like with Banks, I caught Amun's arm and twisted it but this time I wrapped my hand around his throat. My grip was so tight that there were cracks forming around his neck. The funny thing was, I wasn't even trying. He tried to pry my hand away but he couldn't.

"So," I started. "This is what centuries of immortality have produced? I am not impressed."

I kicked his right knee so I could make him kneel then I slapped him.

"If you know what's good for you," I said. "You will not open your mouth again or I will have my brothers and sisters turn you into a pile of ash."

I spun around and headed to the board while several people were stunned. The Nomads, the Irish coven, half of the Egyptians were gaping at me. The Cullens and the Denali's smiled at me. Emmett, Embry, Garrett, and Jake clapped me on the back.

"Now where was I," I mused. "Ah yes."

And then I continued.

**END FLASHBACK**

Amun kept his mouth shut after that although, I'm sure he kept talking shit when he went hunting.

We had some unexpected guests after another week. I had showed Carlise that they were coming but I didn't know what they were here for. He didn't know either but he would keep a look out.

**FLASHBACK**

We were all in the back yard trying readjust our vision after Zafrina blinded us. Something that she could have told us she was doing before hand when I heard some commotion in the front yard. I heard Carlisle's voice over a sound of surprised chatter.

"Did Alice send you?" He asked sounding unsure and slightly upset.

I caught Edward's eye and we darted into the house. The others followed though I could hear Bella move slowly. I guess it was because Nessie was perched on her back.

There was a crowed by the front door but I could see over their heads. The two figures from my vision were standing in front of Carlisle.

The vampires at the door were both slight and short, one dark-haired and the other with hair so ashy blond that it looked pale gray. They had the same powdery look to their skin like the Volturi, though it was not as pronounced. Their sharp, narrow eyes were dark burgundy, with no milky film. They wore very simple black clothes that could pass as modern but hinted at older designs.

"No one sent us," The blonde said in a feathery soft voice.

"Then what brings you here?" Carlisle asked sounding wary.

"Word travels," The dark haired one murmured. "We heard hints that the Volturi were moving against you. There were whispers that you would not stand alone. Obviously, the whispers were true. This is an impressive gathering."

"There has been a misunderstanding," Carlisle said in a strained toned. "We are not challenging the Volturi at all. Like I said, this a very serious misunderstanding but one we're hoping to clear up. What you see are witnesses. We just need the Volturi to listen. We didn't—"

"We don't care what they say you did," the blonde one told him. "And we don't care if you broke _their_ law."

I noticed there a slight edge in his voice when he said the word their.

"No matter how egregiously." The dark haired one added.

"We've been waiting for a millennium and a half for the Italian scum to be challenged," The blonde said. I noticed that if you didn't see them, and if you didn't have good ears it would sound like you were hearing one person speak. "If there is any chance that they will fall, we will be here to see it."

"Or even help defeat them," The other one added. "If we think that you have a chance of achieveing it."

"Bella," I heard Edward say in a hard voice. I noticed that the others were tense and some were glaring violently at the two. "Let us test their claims. Bring Renesmee in here please."

I heard her shuffle towards us as several people took defensive stances. I did too albeit a little reluctantly. Something was telling we would be ok. The second Bella and Nessie came into view, the dark haired stranger grinned.

"Well, well, well," He drawled flamboyantly before he looked at Carlisle. "You have been a very naughty boy haven't you?"

Part of me wanted to laugh at his sudden campiness but it was to tense to do so.

"She's not what you think Stefan." Carlisle said. Finally, a name.

"And we don't care either way," The blonde respnded. "As we've said before."

"And you are welcome to observe Vladimir," Carlilse told him. "We are not planning to challenge the Volturi, as we have said before."

"Then we will cross our fingers," Stefan began while crossing his fingers.

"And hope we get lucky," Vladimir finished with an impish grin.

They scanned the group until they landed on me, Embry and Jake. The grins they had on their faces made me feel uncomfortable. They glided over to me, ignoring the hisses and growls. Vladimir held his hand out to me.

"Hello little brother." He said and my eyebrows shot up. The others stopped what they were doing to do a double take.

_Take it,_ I heard Takoda say. _You can trust them._

_You better be right._

I reluctantly took his hand and asked.

"What do you mean when you said, _brother_?"

"Of course you wouldn't know of our history with werewolves," Stefan said as I shook his hand. "Our apologies. You see, we are known as Romanians but we are really-"

"Dacians?" I offered cutting him off. I remembered the countries that correspond with the empire and Romania was one of them. Peter's tip came in handy.

The Romanians looked stunned.

"Yes," Vladimir said slowly. "Not too many people know that, how is it that you do?"

"Oh I got a tip from a reliable source that said I would need this imformation." I glanced at Peter who winked at me.

"How much do you know?" Stefan asked.

"Not much really," I murmured. "Just that Dacia was a branch of Thrace and you had a godly ancestor called the Dacian Draco."

"Correct young one," Vladimir grinned. "Do you know what it looked like?"

"It had the head of a wolf," I started. "And the body of a dragon."

They grins widened and I felt Tanya's hand slip into mine. I looked down at her and she was eyeing the Romanians suspiciously. They turned to regard her. They looked her up and down then zeroed in on our hands. I didn't like the smirks that crept up on their faces.

"How did you know what I was?" I asked to take the attention off of Tanya. They turned to me and smiled.

"You look just like our brothers." Stefan said.

"They were tall," Vladimir went on. "Handsome and very muscular. Much like yourself and them." He gestured towards Embry and Jacob. "But I can tell that you are different. Tell me, do you change during the full moon?"

"No." I said shaking my head. "I can change when ever I want."

I heard Jacob curse at me in Quiletue and told me not to spill secrets but I had to defy my Alpha. I trusted Takoda so I would trust them. For now at least.

"Interesting," Stefan mused. "You are different than our brothers but you remind us of them in so many ways."

"I thought that we were enemies," Embry said. "Why would you call these werewolves brothers, that is, if they were real."

They gave him a cold look.

"Are you implying that we could never be kind to werewolves?" Vladimir said. "Just because those Italian fools made it a point to murder our brothers does not mean that we felt the same. In fact, we will avenge them if we have the opportunity!"

"And how dare you question the validity of our brothers existence!" Stefan added.

"Now when you say brothers," I murmured trying to keep everything cool. "Do you mean..." I trailed off hoping they know where I was going with this.

"We meant that in both the figurative," Vladimir began.

"And literal sense." Stefan finished.

"How can it be both?" Jacob asked.

"They were related to some of them," I said. "But those who weren't of blood relation were still treated as such."

"Exactly," Stefan said. "And just because the rest of our kind has forgotten one of the oldest alliances ever made does not mean that we do."

"It was a terrible alliance," Amun snapped. "Those dogs were untrustworthy and had no sense of honor-"

Amun would have said more but the Romanians silenced him with a demonic look.

"If anyone is untrustworthy and lacking in honor," Vladmir hissed. He sounded so much like a snake. "It would be you, you coward."

"We may have been over thrown," Stefan added. "Our brothers both vampire and wolf alike may have died in combat but at least we stood together and fought for what was ours. Unlike you Egyptian, who decided to abandon his coven and find a rock to hide under!"

"Why you-"

"Don't Amun," Benjamin said. "We didn't come here to fight."

"No," Amun said. "We didn't come here to fight, we came here to die."

"At least some of us will die with honor," Vladamir snapped. "Unlike you."

"There's a special place in the underworld reserved for people like you," Stefan snarled. "And I'm sure they would welcome you with open arms."

"I don't need to take this!" Amun bellowed. "We are leaving!"

"No we are not." Benjamin said. "We are here to act as witnesses for our friends and that is what we will do."

"I am your leader!" Amun spat. "You dare to defy me?"

"Yes," Benjamin said with a nod. "Because you are not acting like a leader, you are acting like a child."

Several people cracked up at Amun's affronted expression.

"I'm going hunting," He said in a quiet voice. "When I get back, we are leaving."

Kebi rushed over to him then they flashed out of the house.

"Didn't they just hunt?" Tanya asked.

"Yeah," I said. "They did but he doesn't care." I turned to the Romanians. "What was that about?"

"Something we've been meaning to get off our chest," Stefan said. "We never had a chance before this, so we jumped at the opportunity."

"A millenium worth of resentment that we needed to get out of our systems." Vladamir said. "As long as he doesn't do anything, we won't fight him. I swear it on the Dacian Empire."

"As do I."

There was a beat of silence. I noticed that the others weren't as tense, they were a little curious.

"Did you know what I was from looking at me," I began. "Or was my family mentioned in these whispers that you heard?"

"The latter," Vladmir murmured. "We didn't think that our brothers, the Children Of The Moon, had many descendants left. We hoped that there would be and even though you are not them, I can see you share the same traits as them."

"Such as?"

"You have a great sense of selflessness," Stefan said. "You are willing to lay your lives down for someone you care about. You stood ready to attack if we posed a threat to the child. Monsters do not do that, good men do. Our brothers were good men, and so are you. That young one, is what you have in common."

"Not to sound rude," Carlisle said. "But I thought true werewolves were uncontrolable. Kind of like newborns but worse."

The Romanians howled with laughter. It was strange hearing them laugh but at least the tension was dying down.

"That, my friend," Stefan said. "Is a myth. One that only came to fruition because a lone werewolf had killed several vampires in self defense."

"Yes," Vladimir began. "Tell me, what would happen if you backed an animal into a corner?"

"They would lash out." I said.

"Correct," Vladimir said. "And that is what happened. This whole uncontrolable nonsense came about because the group that was trying to capture the wolf were amateurs. The newborn part was because he was stronger than them of course he was purebred, so he knew a thing or two."

_Are they telling the truth,_ I thought to Edward and he nodded. Well this should be interesting.

**END FLASHBACK**

Jacob, Bella, and well a good chunk of the people here were still wary of the Romanians. I didn't mind them so much they were...interesting to say the least.

In the end we had over 17 witnesses combined with the 16 family members. The Denali's asked to be counted as family and since Garrett, Embry, and myself were mated to the three sisters, we were counted in there as well. Carlisle thought it was fitting to have Jacob in there with us because he had come to view us as sons.

Speaking of Carlisle, he had some left over equipment and he would be happy to run the tests. Turns out our bones are just as dense as vampire skin, which Carlisle said has the same density as titanium alloy. He said our speed and strength are relative to our size, just like a vampire.

He guessed that Embry could be fast as Edward because he was close to him in size. He also guessed that I would be as strong as Emmett or maybe stronger.

I thought this was all well and good but I was more concerned about the venom test. He took blood and venom samples and said he would work on it.

That was a few weeks ago. It was Christmas time now. I surprised my mom and grandma by going home for a few hours and spending time with them. I gave them the gifts I bought them last month and I told them about the money I saved up. I told them to use it just in case. My mom shook her head at me and asked why I didn't bring Tanya. I told her that vampires were not allowed here imprint or not. And I didn't want to put the new wolves on edge. She seemed saddened by this, so did my grandma, but we just kept talking before I left.

Embry came to my house after he was done and we were getting ready to run back to mansion.

"Do you know when Jake will be back?" He asked.

Jake went with Bella and Edward to celebrate Nessie's first christmas at Charlie's. Sam and a few members of his pack will be there. The younger wolves would be at home. Leah said she would take first shift at patrolling. She said the younger ones needed a break. I learned that they were all doing well and they were very enthusiastic about what they were. They were training hard and were paying attention. Jacob told me that Sam said he was glad that they took it so well.

"Probably after 2," I said. "It's almost 1:30 now so we'll see him soon."

Just before we ran I had a vision.

Everyone was gathered in the back yard of the house. Carlisle looked very glum. The others were waiting patiently for him to talk.

"Allistair is gone," Carlisle murmured. I knew this already. I saw him leave last week and I told Carlisle about it. "He didn't leave a note."

There was some murmuring among the group.

"We should all be running." Amun said after a minute or so.

"Just because you want to run doesn't mean we need to run as well." Irina said rolling her eyes.

"Nobody asked for your opinion bitch." He spat.

"Nobody asked for yours either you prick," Tanya said standing in front of him. "And watch what you say to my sister."

"Do not tell me what to do!" He roared and he did something that I never thought he would do. He back handed Tanya.

The vision stopped there and I bolted towards the Cullens house. I didn't care if anyone saw me, my imprint was going to be harmed. I didn't care about anything else as the trees blurred in my vision.

"Hold the hell up!" Embry shouted at me.

"No!" I snapped. "I need to help Tanya! Embry, promise me something!"

He caught up to me.

"What is it?"

"Promise me you will protect Tanya while I deal with Amun."

"I promise."

"I'm counting on you little brother."

"I won't let you down."

I did say anything I just pushed myself to go faster and my vision blurred even more. We arrived at the front of the house in 10 minutes tops. I could hear the arguing in the back.

"Nobody asked for yours either you prick," I heard Tanya say as I reached the side of the house. "And watch what you say to my sister."

I turned the corner and ran.

"Do not tell me what to do!"

And there was the back hand again.

A ferocious roar tore through my lips as red colored my vision. I felt my eyes glaze over, my teeth become sharper and my claws extend. I lunged at the prick who thought he could touch my Tanya. He turned his head a second too late and I tackled his ass to the ground. There was no way I was going to let him think he had any right to do what he did.

TANYA POV

I watched as Thomas tackled Amun to the ground. As much as I wouldn't mind him dismembering Amun, I don't want him to get hurt. He was in control the last time he had an argument with him. His judgement was clouded by anger now who knows what would happen.

I tried to move forward but someone was holding me back. Three people actually. Kate and Irina both had vice grips on my arms. Irina was on my left, Kate was on my right. Emmett was behind me arms wrapped around my waist. Embry stepped in front of me and crouched low.

"What are you doing? Let me go!" I growled.

"No can do sis," Embry said. "I promised my brother that I would make sure I protected you while he dealt with that bastard."

Kate, Irina, and Emmett murmured their agreement and I growled louder. How could they just let him fight like this?

Amun tried to knock Thomas down but he missed. Thomas took that opportunity to claw at Amun's back. Amun cried out and swung at him again. He missed and Thomas clawed at his face. I thought Thomas had a chance, until he swung at Amun and missed. Amun jumped behind him and bit into his left shoulder. I shrieked and my sisters hissed. Carlisle gasped and Embry growled. We all knew what vampire venom does to a wolf's system before we took those tests. Carlisle hadn't gotten his tests results yet so it could have the same result as Jacob described.

I thought Thomas would scream but he laughed instead. How could he laugh at a time like this? Amun didn't let go and I could hear him sucking out Thomas' blood. He's trying to drain him dry! I thrashed against the hold I was in but it was useless.

"Do you like that?" Thomas purred. "Good, because that's all you're going to get."

He elbowed Amun in his stomach. Amun cried out and stepped back. Thomas spun around and took a swipe at his face. When Amun leaned to the side, Thomas flashed behind him.

"Let's see how you like it." He hissed and bit into Amun's neck. Amun screamed and tried to buck him off. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Kebi step forward. Tia pulled her back and Benjamin stepped in front of her, effectively blocking her view.

"What are you doing?" She hissed. This is probably the first time I've heard her speak the entire time she's been here. "We should be helping him!"

"No." Benjamin said coldly. "He got himself into this mess, he can get himself out."

Amun cried out again as Thomas tore out a chunk of his body. Thomas shoved Amun away and spat out the chunk in his mouth.

"Ugh! Jesus you taste like ass!" He exclaimed as he started wiping his tongue with his shirt. He looked over at me and the others and smiled.

"Don't be so glum, I made no plans to die today." He said with a smile and I glared at him. "No really look." He continued and pulled his shirt off. He pointed to his wound which had venom draining out of it. Wait, the venom is draining out and his wound is healing. What is going on?

"All of this, for that whore." Amun scoffed. "Gods you are stupid."

Thomas snarled before he flashed over to Amun. He pulled Amun into the air by his throat with one hand, and yanked out Amun's left arm with the other.

"Watch your mouth you filthy fucking parasite." He spat. It would have been difficult to hear him over Amun's shrieking and Kebi's snarling if I didn't have good hearing. He threw Amun across the stream and tossed his arm at his head.

Thomas took deep breaths before walking back over to us. His irises were starting to turn green. His claws and teeth were retracting with each step. He stopped and whipped his head around. I followed his line sight. Amun had jumped over the stream and darted towards Thomas. Thomas crouched low and hissed.

Amun didn't even get within 5 feet of Thomas because the ground rumbled and a crater opened. Lots of rocks and hail erupted from the crater and hit Amun. He flew back about 6 feet and landed harshly. My gaze flashed to Benjamin who had his left arm outstretched, his palm up and his fingers flexed.

"You lost Amun." He said as he slowly closed his hand. The crater started closing as he did this. "There's no point in continuing."

Amun looked at Benjamin as if he was just slapped in the face. Amun scrambled to his feet and narrowed his eyes.

"You would choose them over me?" He said. "I am the one who gave you life!"

"But it is my life to live, is it not?" Benjamin said in that ice cold tone. It was strange seeing him act like this. "It's such a shame that you couldn't bend my will to match yours. Then, and only then, could you make me the weapon you want me to be."

Amun turned his gaze to Carlisle and bared his teeth.

"Is this why you brought me here Carlisle, to steal from me?" He snapped and there was a chorus of growls. The loudest were from Thomas and Emmett.

"Yes, Carlisle invited his closest friends here to steal from them." Benjamin said while rolling his eyes. "Give it a rest Amun."

"Alistair had the right idea, we should be running!"

"Just like you did before?" Benjamin snapped. "Like when the Volturi destroyed your brothers and sisters!"

"I had my reasons for doing that." Amun said through his teeth.

"Yes, it was so you could live to see another day. I've heard this story before." Benjamin spat. "I also heard the story about your precious Demetri."

At the mention of Demetri, Amun snarled. His eyes were blazing with rage.

"They stole him from me!"

"Yes I know." Benjamin said. "They used Chelsea to change his loyalty. Ever since then you've been plotting your revenge. You were waiting for the right person to change and you found me."

He paused and looked around at the crowd.

"Even when I was human, I had some influence over the elements. The one I had the most influence over was fire. My uncle thought it was something that I could use to entertain people."

He paused again and smiled before he grimaced.

"Amun saw in me a chance to regain his honor. He envisioned me as his avenging angel." He locked gazes with Amun. "I hold no ill will against you for changing me. But I cannot stand by and let you say or do things unchallenged any more."

"So what are you saying?"

"I am saying that I won't join another coven anytime soon, but I will if you won't let go of these paranoid tendencies that you have." He said. "I will only say this once Amun, Carlisle is not Aro and I am not Demetri."

Amun growled at Benjamin before turning to Carlisle.

"I will bear witness that the child has grown, that much is true. However, if the only way to survive is to join the Volturi, I will." He said.

"I won't hold it against you my friend." Carlisle said.

_I will._ I thought.

"I will." Thomas and Benjamin said at the same time. The rest of my family murmured their agreement. Amun glared frostily at all of us before he motioned for Kebi to walk over to him Tia released her and she ran to Amun. She grasped his hand in hers.

Amun narrowed his eyes at Thomas.

"This is not over mongrel." He spat and Thomas laughed.

"Well, if you ever feel the need to have your ass handed to you again, give me a call." He said inclining his head.

They both hissed before they spun around and flashed away from us.

Thomas heaved a sigh.

"Well that was fun." He said. He turned to Benjamin. "You didn't need to do that."

"Yes, I did." Benjamin said. "He was out of line. First with hitting your mate and when he just accused Carlisle of stealing."

"Well, he should be glad that I didn't set him on fire." Thomas said through gritted teeth and Benjamin chuckled without humor.

"I wouldn't blame you my friend." He said as he patted Thomas' shoulder. Thomas' eyebrows shot up.

"You consider me your friend?" Thomas asked and Benjamin nodded.

"You are one of the few people here that know me for me, and not my gift."

"You got a great personality," Thomas said with a shrug. "You don't have an ego, you're very respectful, what's not to like?"

Benjamin grinned at him.

"I could say the same about you," He said and he held his hand out to Thomas. "Friends?"

Thomas smiled and shook his hand.

"Friends."

I felt the grip from the others loosen so I shrugged them off and stomped over to my idiot mate.

THOMAS MATTHEWS!" I screeched and he flinched. "What the hell were you thinking? Oh yeah you weren't thinking at all!"

"Tany-"

"I don't want to hear it!" I snapped and I punched him in the shoulder. He cringed but didn't say anything. "He bit you! How could you fight him knowing that he could do something like that? What you did was stupid, reckless-"

"And something that I knew would work," He interrupted. I blinked at him, did I hear him correctly?

"What do you mean?" I heard Randall ask. "You didn't do it on purpose did you? You didn't let him bite you right?"

"Of course he did." Peter said while Charlotte added. "It was kind of obvious."

"Obvious?" Thomas asked.

"Yes young one," Stefan murmured.

"You couldn't have been more obvious if you had the words bite me tattooed on your forehead." Vladimir added sounding bemused while Thomas huffed.

"Well it was worth it," He said and at my glare he continued. "He is an arrogant prick who thought he could one up me. You heard him before, 'I have centuries on you boy, what do you have'." He said in decent immitation of Amun's voice. "I'm not gonna say that vampires are arrogant but it seems to be a reccuring trait with some of the older vampires. I mean look at the Volturi, they are the definition of arrogant."

"That doesn't mean you needed to be bitten," I snarled. "You could have finished the fight sooner."

"I didn't see that," He said. "It could have been worse."

"How so?"

"He could have grabbed one of you," He said. "Or when the others came back he could have tried to kill Nessie."

I tensed and I saw a few people do that as well.

"He wouldn't have gotten that close," I said. "Anyone one of us would have stopped him."

"I didn't want it to get that far," He said and he looked to the front where I heard a car pull up. "It's the others."

"Do not think that this conversation is over," I hissed and he nodded.

"At least we have an answer though." He said.

"What do you mean?" I said frowning.

"I wasn't affected by his venom," He explained. "In fact, my body rejected it. So, if that's any indication..."

"My venom may not hurt you either." I said after he trailed off.

"Exactly," He said with a nod. "You know, you look really pretty today."

Several people snorted.

"Don't think you can get out of this by buttering me up," I said and he pouted. "I'm still mad at you."

He sighed as the Romanians shuffled over to us. Stefan had a dufflebag in his hand.

"We wish to give you something," Stefan said.

"For the holidays." Vladimir added and I narrowed my eyes at the two of them. Stefan reached his hand into the bag and pulled something out. It was a stick about 18 inches long. On one end, there was a silver wolf head with rubies for eyes. The other end had a silver ring that you would see on several asian weapons. The shaft looked like it was covered in blackish silver scales. They handed it to Thomas who studied it critically.

"Not to sound well, ungrateful, but why are you giving me this?" He asked as he rotated the stick. "And why now?"

"It took awhile for it to be shipped here." Vladimir said.

"And it would make more sense for you to have it," Stefan added. "We don't have much use for it."

Thomas said nothing. He scanned the item. He narrowed his eyes at the wolf head. He twisted it and it made a clicking sound. The wolf's mouth opened and a metal spike extended out of it. It looked like polished steel and it was roughly the same size as the the stick. He looked at the ring and twisted it too. He pulled it and there was a thin cord that reminded me of piano wire. He frowned and put it back in twisting it to lock it in place. He stared at the spike and did the strangest thing: He sniffed it. He recoiled from the smell and narrowed his eyes at the Romanians.

"Is this what I think it is?" He asked.

"If you mean a mixture of vampire skin," Stefan began.

"Various metals, and werewolf fang," Vladimir added.

"Then you would be correct." They finished together.

Thomas opened his mouth but they held up their hands.

"Let us explain." Vladimir said. "Our fallen brethren asked us to use these things to make weapons."

"They were all warriors and that was their last request." Stefan said. "We honored their wish and that," He pointed to the item. "Is one of the results."

"So I basically have someones remains as a weapon?" Thomas asked. "How lovely."

He twisted the wolf head and the spike retracted. He sighed and twirled the stick.

"I have to admit though," Thomas murmured. "This design is, for lack of a better word, genius. Did you make it?"

"No," Vladimir shook his head. "One our blacksmiths made that before he was killed."

"He would have made more weapons like that," Stefan added. "He had many great designs but he never had a chance to make them."

Out of the cornor of my eye I saw Edward, Bella, Jacob and Nessie join us.

"Allistair is gone." Edward told the others.

"Why did he go?" Bella asked,

"He was probably scared." Jacob snorted.

"Maybe," Thomas murmured. "He's never been one trust many people right?"

He directed that last part to Carlisle who nodded.

"No one really knows because he didn't leave a note." Edward said. "From his muttering, it's been clear that he thinks a fight is inevitable. Despite his demeanor, he actually does care for Carlisle, so much that he was willing to come here. I suppose he decided the danger was too much."

He shrugged at the end of his explanation.

"From the sound of his mumbling," Eleazar began. "It was a bit more than that. We haven't spoken much of the Volturi agenda, but Alistair worried that no matter how decisively we can prove your innocence, the Volturi will not listen. He thinks they will find an excuse to achieve their goals here."

"Wouldn't surprise me." Thomas muttered mostly to himself but we heard him.

We all exchanged an uneasy glance before I stood next to Thomas and took my hand in his. He smiled at me.

There was some small conversations going on but the Romanians were the loudest.

"Brother," Vladimir murmured to Stefan. "I do hope that Allistair was right about this. No matter the outcome word will spread. It's time that our world saw the Volturi for what they've become. They'll never fall if everyone believes this nonsense about them protecting our way of life."

"At least when we ruled, we were honest about what we were," Stefan replied.

"And how did you rule exactly?" Thomas asked sounding a little amused. I never understood why or how he got along with them but he did.

"With a little bit of arrogance young one," Vladimir said with a grin. "But we never put on white hats and called ourselves saints."

"That's what the Volturi do." Stefan added.

"I think this is the right time for a fight," Vladimir said. "Can you imagine if we'll ever find a better force to stand with? Another chance this good?"

"I don't know brother," Stefan said. "But nothing is impossible, maybe someday-"

"We've been waiting for fifteen hundred years, Stefan." Vladimir interrupted. "And they've only gotten stronger with time."

He paused and glanced across the yard. I followed his line of sight to see that he was looking at Bella who was looking at him.

"If the Volturi win this conflict," He said. "Then they will have more power than they have ever known. With every conquest they add to their strengths. Think of what that newborn alone could give them" He jerked his chin toward Bella. "And she has barely scratched the surface of her gift. Same with the earth mover," He nodded to Benjamin who stiffened. "Or this young wolf," He patted Thomas' shoulder and I tensed. Thomas squeezed my hand. "With his gift of foresight and whatever magic he posseses."

He paused again and I noticed that everyone was listening to them.

"With their witch twins," He hissed before looking at Kate and Zafrina. "There will be no need for the illusionist or the one with the fire touch."

Stefan looked at Edward and said. "The mind reader is not necessary. But I see your point brother. Indeed, they will gain much if they win."

"Much more than any of us can afford to have them gain, don't you agree?"

Stefan sighed. "I agree. And that means… "

"That we must stand against them while there is still hope."

"If we can cripple them, expose them even . . ."

"Then someday, others will finish the job."

"And our vendetta will be repaid at last."

They locked eyes and said. "It's the only way."

"So we fight." Stefan said.

They seemed a little conflicted as they said this. Part of them wanted to run but their revenge was calling to them.

"We fight." Vladimir agreed.

"We will fight too," Tia said sounding solemn and grave. "We are of the opinion that the Volturi will overstep their authority. We have no wish to belong to them." Her eyes lingered on Benjamin. He grinned at her then glanced at the Romanians.

"Apparently, I'm a hot commodity. It appears I have to win the right to be free." He said and Thomas chuckled.

"You and me both my friend." He said.

Garrett walked over to us and smirked.

"This won't be the first time I've fought to keep myself from a king's rule," Garrett said in a teasing tone. He clapped Benjamin on the back. "Here's to freedom of oppression."

"We will stand by Carlisle," I said and I saw my family nod. "And we will fight if need be."

"We haven't decided." Peter said while looking at Charlotte who pursed her lips.

"Same for me," Randall said.

"And me." Mary added.

"The packs will stand by the Cullens," Jacob said. "They will not get away with abusing their power."

"Got that right," Embry grunted with a smirk.

"I'm in too," Maggie said shrugging out of Siobhan's hold. "The truth is on Carlisle's side, I can't ignore that."

Siobhan glacned at Carlisle with worried eyes.

"Carlisle," She said ignoring everyone around them. "I don't want this to come to a fight."

"Neither do I Siobhan, this is the last thing I want," He said half smiling. "Maybe you should envision a peaceful solution."

I frowned in confusion. What did he mean by that?

"You know that won't help." She said.

"Couldn't hurt to try," Thomas said.

"Don't tell me you believe this nonsense too?" She asked and Thomas shrugged before turning to Eleazar.

"Siobhan," Eleazar said. "I've been told you don't believe you are gifted, but you are. I can tell just like with the others in this area. You have something."

Oh she's gifted. Why didn't she say anything before?

"So I should visualize the outcome I desire?" She said while rolling her eyes although she looked unsure of her earlier declaration when she said it wouldn't work.

"If it wouldn't be to much trouble," Carlisle said with a grin.

"Then there is no need for my coven to declare itself, now is there?" She retorted. "Since there is no posibility of a fight."

She grabbed Maggie and pulled her back as Liam stood there with no expression but there was a twinkle in his eyes.

People dispersed. Some went to hunt and some headed into the house.

"Hey Benjamin!" Embry called and he looked at him. "Ever seen the show Avatar: The Last Airbender?"

"Can't say that I have." Benjamin replied.

"Then allow me to educate you my friend." He montioned for him to follow them into the house. Benjamin and Tia complied. Thomas turned to the Romanians.

"I have a question." He said and they mentioned for him to continue. "Does this weapon have a name?" He asked holding up the stick. "Like the other Dacian weapons I mean. You know the Falx or the Sica?"

"No." Vladimir said shaking his head.

"The blacksmith who made them, our brother Damien, said this is a special weapon," Stefan explained. "The owner shall give it a name. So that will be your right to do so."

He handed Thomas the bag.

"For your brothers," He said after Thomas raised an eyebrow. "We would give it to them, but something tells me you would have more success with that."

"We need to go hunting," Vladimir said. "We will see you later."

They nodded and darted away from us. Thomas let go of my hand to look in the bag. His eyebrows shot up before he closed it.

"That's interesting," He said. "I don't think they'll use it but if they don't I'll keep them."

"What is it?" I asked.

"More weapons," He said. "The look like the ones out of the images I saw when I did all that research but they smell just like this." He held up the stick. "I think this is some of the other results they were talking about."

"Are you really keeping that?" I said eyeing the weapon in his hand.

"Sure," He said with a shrug. "What's the worst that could happen?"

I shrugged to. I wasn't sure what could happen but I was still unsure about him having it. But if he wanted to keep then I wouldn't stop him.

"What are you going to name it?"

"I don't know," He said looking at it thoughtfully. "I could use a Hawaiian word, in honor of my mother's heritage."

"Like what?"

"I could use Mahina which means moon or moonlight," He said. "Or Alekanekelo, Alika for short, it means protector."

"They're both good," I said. "Either would fit perfectly. Do you want to go inside?"

He nodded and we flashed inside the house so we could join the others.

* * *

><p><strong>Damn this took forever to write. Tell me how you feel about T.J. getting a weapon and what name it should have. I haven't decided and I don't know how long it will take for me to write the next one so let me know. I know the encounter with the Romanians was slightly different from the book but I hope you enjoyed it none the less.<strong>

**Yours truly,**

**-Capt. Hazard.**


	26. Trial Of The Century

**AUTHORS NOTE**

**Sorry I took so long but here it is, the arrival of the Volturi. There are many similarties from the book but there are differences as well. It's another long chapter by the way but I hope you like it none the less.**

**Yours truly,**

**-Capt. Hazard**

* * *

><p>T.J. POV<p>

We got the test results from Carlisle the day after the incident with Amun. He said that we didn't need to worry because we weren't at risk as we all saw during the fight. Tanya pointed out that her venom could possibly affect me because she was my mate. Carlisle told her that Venom of any kind will not affect me or Embry. She was satisfied with that answer but she was still pissed that I let Amun bite me. I begged her for hours to speak to me. She caved right before I went to bed. I guess I looked really pathetic and she took pity on me.

Now though, we were all standing in formation in the clearing. Benjamin suggested that he stand near Bella to protect her. Zafrina already volunteered to do so along with Senna but he wanted to help as well. I think it was part of it was because he didn't want to be near Amun for awhile. He sat on the ground getting a feel of the fault lines. Last night he had moved boulders to the clearing and now they were in natural looking, snow covered formations. They wouldn't harm a vampire but they would distract them.

I scanned our group. This was really an impressive gathering. It would have been fun if we gathered under better circumstances. And just beyond the trees were the other wolves. The younger ones were having a little difficulty with control but I had to give them credit for trying.

Jake was positioned next to Bella in his wolf form while me and Embry stood by our imprints in our human forms with the rest of the Denali's. They had seen our wolf forms before when we went hunting with them. They couldn't believe how big we were and Garrett wanted to fight us as wolves. I told him we would spar if we ever got out of this.

I had Alika belted across my lower back and Embry had chosen a Sicca which he strapped to his back like a ninja. I told him to strap it to his side because it could be akward for him to unsheathe it like this because of the curve the blade has. He said it would have been easier for his opponent to stop him from getting his weapon out if he had it strapped to his hip. He also said that since the handle was straight and flat, it was easy for him to get a good grip on it.

The blade was at least three feet long and the handle was at least 12 inches long. So it was roughly a four foot weapon which he named Joe Bob. Don't ask, that's just what he came up with. He said it was either that or Crown Royal. Again, don't ask. Vladimir and Stefan taught us some moves that we could use just in case they were needed. And if all else failed, we would just phase.

While we waited I thought back to the dream a couple days ago. It was like the first one I had with Takoda but this time we were at first beach.

**FLASHBACK**

I saw Takoda resting on his stomach near the logs that some people like to sit on. I walked over to him. As I got closer, I could hear him humming a meaningless tune.

'It's not meaningless,' He said. 'Just because you don't know what it means, it doesn't mean that the tune is without meaning.'

"Ok," I said as I sat down on the log. "What does it mean then?"

No Answer.

"Thought so," I said and he huffed. "So why am I here? Am I meeting one of T'ist'ilal's brothers?" I asked glancing at the ocean.

'No,' He said. 'Maybe some other time. I brought you here to see something.'

He got up and shook himself.

'Follow me.' He said.

"You know," I murmured as I stood up. "The last time I followed I was practically fried by lightning."

'Yeah," He winced. 'Sorry about that.'

"You do realize I was joking right?" I said frowning. "I meant nothing by it."

'I know,' He said gravely. 'But it was terrible seeing you like that.'

I didn't say anything as he lead me to some rocks on the other part of the beach.

"So I'm going to be looking at rocks?" I asked and Takoda rolled his eyes.

'I'm leading you to the tide pools.' He said.

"Won't you get wet?" I asked.

'I'm not actually going near them,' He said rolling his eyes again. 'Do you see me taking a dip in the water? No you don't, I am not getting this fine coat of fur damp.'

I rolled my eyes but smiled a little. When we reached the rocks, Takoda stopped moving.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

'I'm not going up there,' He said. 'The rocks will be rough on my paws.'

I shrugged and walked up the rock path.

"What am I looking for?" I called over my shoulder.

'You'll know when you see it.' He said.

"That's helpful." I grumbled and he huffed again.

I just looked aimlessly around the rocks, trying to fine something. I almost called it quits but then a ray of light beamed at one of the tide pools. I looked up at the source and I saw that the clouds had parted to let some sunlight shine through. Strange. I bounded my way over to the pool and looked in side. It was nothing out of the ordinary. Some sand, a few fish etc. The water started glowing then it shimmered.

There was an image of a forest I never saw but I recognized the people in it. It was Alice, Jasper, Karichi, Huilen, and her nephew, Nahuel. They were all running.

"How long do you think it will take?" I heard Jasper yell.

"We should get there the day of if we high tail it!" Was the reply he got from Alice. "Again, thank you for helping Nahuel."

"It is no problem." He said. "I'm interested to see another of member of my kind. One that's not my sibling at least."

Even though they were running I swear I saw Alice and Jasper exchange a glance.

The scene disapeared. I was glad to see another update about them but I wanted to see more.

"Is there anymore that I need to see?" I asked.

'No,' Takoda said. 'Unless you want to see the Volturi leeching off some innocent Canadians.'

"No thanks." I said feeling sick. I knew that the Volturi were staying in Canada so that they could wait for their witnesses to catch up. I already told Carlisle this and I didn't need to be reminded of their activities. "Is there anything else you needed to show me?"

'No, but I imagine that you have questions,' He said. 'Come on down.'

I bounded my way towards him and jumped off the rocks.

'So,' He said as I landed on the ground. I moved right next to him as we walked down the beach.

"I guess one thing that I have to ask," I began. "Is why did you tell me to trust the Romanians? Don't get me wrong, they're not that bad but still."

'I can't tell you everything,' He began and I frowned. 'Just know that things are stirring and that you will need the help of your friends and family.'

"If this is about the Volturi-"

'There's much more than that,' He interrupted. 'I can't say what because I've been sworn to secrecy, but know that there are things out there that will either help you or hurt you. The Romanians may be different but they are good men. They're just a little bitter is all.'

"I can't say that I blame them," I grumbled. "I'd probably be the same way if that happened to me."

'Anyone would be that way I imagine,' Takoda sighed. 'Any other questions?'

"Well I guess the obvious one is, why did you bring me here?"

'What, I'm not allowed to talk you now?' He huffed but there was a hint of amusement in his voice.

"No," I started. "It's just you haven't really spoken to me. You know, since I got the blessing from T'ist'ilal. I was just wondering why."

I shugged and he sighed.

'Like I said things are stirring,' He began. 'I would love to tell you about the things I've heard at the meetings I've attended.' Thunder rumbled in the sky. 'I said I would love to, I didn't say that I would.' He said looking at the sky in exasperation. 'But I can't. It's part of the reason why you haven't seen or heard from me.'

"Meetings?" I asked. "What meetings?"

'T'ist'ilal and the others have been speaking to each other for the past few weeks,' He explained. 'Like I said, things are stirring and it has everyone on edge.'

"What is it?" I asked and he shook his head. "Aw come on you can tell me. Who knows, maybe I can help. Or do you think I am incapable of helping?"

'I'm not saying you couldn't help,' He said 'I'm just saying you can't, not right now at least.'

"So what, I can only help when they want it instead of when I offer?" I said.

'Something like that.' He said sounding sheepish.

"That doesn't sound right."

'Don't judge them too harshly,' He said. 'They are taking every precaution and they need to make sure that other options are explored before asking for your help.'

"So I'm the last resort?" I asked and he nodded his head. "Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

'Good thing,' He said. 'It means that they hold you in high regard.'

"If they did," I began. "Shouldn't I have been one of the first options they had? And shouldn't I have been there from the beginning?"

'Not really,' He said. 'Think of it as a game of chess, the pawns go first. I doubt that you would like being called a pawn.' I made a face at him and he snorted. 'My point exactly. I can't really answer your second question but I do think that you should know something.' Thunder rumbled again but this time a strong gust of wind hit us from the ocean side. I looked out and I saw that a storm was brewing. 'I wasn't going to say anything!' He cried, his eyes wide with fear. 'I swear it on the great spirit!' The storm was calming down and the thunder stopped. 'Sheesh! It's as if they didn't hear me earlier!' There was a flash of lightning and we both jumped a few feet in the air. 'Sorry!'

"Can I go back now?" I asked.

'Don't you have anymore questions?' He asked sounding a little scared.

"No," I said. "Maybe another time but I really don't wanna get hurt again."

'I understand,' He said with a sigh. 'If you don't hear from me, I'm either really busy, or I'm dead.'

"Why would they kill you?" I asked but then a thought occurred to me. "What would happen if they did? If you died, would I die too?"

'Well they wouldn't kill me,' He said sounding unsure. 'And I don't think you would be affected. If anything, you wouldn't have a link to us anymore. At least until T'ist'ilal feels that you would need it again.'

"Is he in charge of this sort of thing or something?"

'Not really,' He said. 'This is the first time they've every done this before but he was really adamant that this should happen.'

"So this is a test run?" I asked. "If this doesn't work out, will they try again or not?"

'Don't know,' He said with a jerky shrug. Human characteristics on wolves really look weird. 'Well now, I wouldn't be doing any eye rolling, shrugging, or anything else if it wasn't for you. And I thought you didn't have any questions?'

"Forgive me for being inquisitive," I said with an eyeroll. "I thought you would want to forget about almost dying but clearly I was wrong."

'Hmph!' He huffed before glaring at me. 'Did you have to bring that up?'

I shrugged and kept walking while he started grumbling under his breath.

**END FLASHBACK**

I couldn't get him to budge on what he he heard at these meetings. He would always change the subject or just avoid the question. I wonder if people were just as annoyed with me when I did stuff like that.

"Thomas," Carlisle called snapping me out of my thoughts and I looked at him. "Anything new so far?"

"No," I said shaking my head. I hadn't seen anything new and the future kept changing which resulted in me having a migraine. "It's still the same but be cautious, I'm sure they'll play dirty."

He nodded solemnly. This must be hard for him, to view people he once respected as the enemy. Minutes passed before I got hit with an overwhelming smell of death and decay while Edward hissed. I actually gagged and took a step back.

"What is it?" Tanya asked sounding worried.

"I can smell them from here," I said. "And they smell terrible."

"You can?" Embry asked and I nodded. "But there's no wind."

"I guess my sense of smell got an even bigger upgrade than I would want." I said wrinkling my nose.

They came out a few seconds after in a rigid, formal formation. They moved as one but it wasn't a march, it was fluid. Like they were one entity instead of a group. The outer perimeter was gray then the color darkened with each line of bodies until the heart of the formation was deepest black. Every face was cowled, shadowed. The faint brushing sound of their feet was so regular it was like music, a complicated beat that never faltered.

For some strange reason, the configuration folded outward. I didn't see any hand signal or any sign that told them to do that. I guess it was many years of practice. It sort of reminded me of a flower opening but it was too stiff and rigid. The gray-cloaked figures spread to the flanks while the darker forms surged precisely forward in the center, each movement closely controlled.

Their progress was very slow but deliberate. They were in no hurry, they had no tension, and they showed no signs of anxiety. It was the pace of those who thought they were invincible. I wouldn't call them invincible but I had to hand it to them, they were organized.

There were over 33 of them. Even if you didn't count the two drifting, waifish black-cloaked figures in the very back, who were the wives (their protected position implied that they would not be involved in the attack) we were outnumbered. None of them seemed surprised to see Jacob.

"The redcoats are coming, the redcoats are coming," Garrett muttered mysteriously to himself and then chuckled once as he grabbed Kate's hand.

"They did come," Vladimir whispered to Stefan.

"The wives," Stefan hissed back. "The entire guard. All of them together. It's a shame we didn't try Volterra."

"So you didn't believe me?" I whispered over my shoulder. I told them this when they first got here but I never knew if they bought it.

"We trust you young one." Vladmir said.

"We didn't think they would be stupid enough to do this." Stefan added. "I have half a mind to call a few friends to take the castle, but something tells me they kept it well guarded."

I didn't say anything and turned back to the group heading towards us. There was a second group just behind the Volturi. It was seemingly endless but I knew that they were nothing more than witnesses, spectators even. Just there to observe and nothing more.

"Allistair was right," Edward murmured which caused several people to look at him questioningly.

"Aro is here to acquire and Caius is here to destroy." Edward said softly so only we could hear. "They have many layers of strategy already in place. If Gianna's accusation is somehow proven false, they were committed to find another reason to take offense. But they can see Renesmee now, so they are content about their course. We could still attempt to defend against their other contrived charges, but first they have to stop, to hear the truth about Renesmee." Then his voice dropped even lower. "Which they have no intention of doing."

Jacob huffed and I hissed. Tanya grabbed my hand and squeezed it before letting go. I watched as the Volturi advanced on us. Then after a second, they stopped moving. They were looking right behind us where the other wolves had just walked in to the clearing. I could hear someone snarl softly. Out of the cornor of my eye I looked at Bella whose eye's were blazing but she was smiling. I smirked at her before turning my attention back to the Volturi.

Aro and Caius were evaluting the situation and the others were waiting. Well all three kings were evaluting but Marcus didn't look interested in this at all. I had the feeling that it's been this way for awhile.

Their witnesses had their eyes fixed on Bella and Nessie but they were near the other end of the clearing, which left a wide berth between them and the members of the Volturi who were at least a hundred yards away from us.

I saw the witch twins just beside Marcus and they were flanked by Demetri. These three were very important to Aro but the jewels in his collection were Jane and Alec. I scanned the crowed and saw Felix not to far behind them but I was looking for Afton and Alexi. If it came to a fight I would get rid of them first. I saw Alexi way in the back with Gianna and I saw Afton near the wives. He wasn't guarding them but he was close. I saw a woman with light brown hair who looked like she was concentrating on something.

I looked at Edward and thought, _Is that Chelsea? The one with the light brown hair?_

He looked at me and nodded slightly.

I turned back to Aro and Caius. Their eyes flickered across our line. Caius was sneering but his eyes showed that he was terrified and I swear Aro looked dissapointed. He looked over our line again just to make sure that whoever he was looking for was indeed missing. I guess it's a good thing Alice and Jasper weren't here. I doubt they would appreciate the look on Aro's face.

"Edward?" Carlisle asked sounding anxious.

"They're not sure how to proceed," He said. "They're weighing whatever options they may have. They have some key targets. Me," Bella hissed. "Of course you Carlisle," Esme snarled which shocked the hell out of me because I've never heard her snarl before. "Eleazar," Carmen stiffened. "and Tanya," I growled loudly at that.

"Marcus is reading the strength of our ties to each other, looking for weak points." He went on.

_He shouldn't be able to find any,_ I thought. _Maybe with the Egyptians but the others should be fine._

"The Romanians' presence irritates them," He said and Vladimir and Stefan snorted but said nothing. "They're worried about the people they don't recognize, Like Zafrina and Senna, and of course, the wolves." He looked at me and Embry. "Aro is particularly interested in you two because of the bond between you and your imprints."

Embry and I scowled at the forest floor. I wanted to direct it at Aro and I'm sure Embry did too, but we were on thin ice, we couldn't afford to aggravate them right now.

"They've never been outnumbered before," He went on and people looked at him incredulously. "That's part of what stopped them."

"Outnumbered?" Tanya whispered.

"They're not counting the group in the back." I said. "They're just here to observe."

"Correct," Edward said. "They are nonentities, meaningless to the guard. Aro likes to have an audience."

"Should I speak?" Carlisle asked. Edward and I exchanged a look.

"Go." I said.

"You may not have another chance." Edward added.

Carlisle squared his shoulders and walked towards Aro. He spread his arms with his palm up.

"Aro," He said. "It's been centuries my old friend."

Aro studied him and the rest kept quiet. The seconds ticked by before he walked forward with his sheild, Renata. Eleazar said she rarely leaves his side. She'll block the other Ancients but Aro is her priority. The guard set themselves into crouches while their faces wore scowls. Aro took notice of this and held up his hand.

"Peace," He said as he took a few more steps towards Carlisle. He cocked his head to the side and stared at Carlisle curiously. "Fair words, Carlisle," He told him. "But they seem out of place considering that you have assembled an army to kill me and my dear ones."

"You brought an army to kill your friends and your afraid Carlisle might kill you?" I said rolling my eyes. Is he frickin serious?

He smiled slightly at me before he looked at Carlisle. I noticed that several people on their side of the line glared at me and I just stared at them, unimpressed by their looks. They blinked at me before they went back to scowling.

Carlisle shook his head at Aro.

"You have but to touch my hand to know that was never my intent." He said holding out his right hand while Aro narrowed his eyes.

"But how can your intent possibly matter, dear Carlisle, in the face of what you have done?" He frowned, and a shadow of sadness crossed his features. I was pretty sure it wasn't genuine but I didn't say it out loud.

"I have not commited the crime you are here to punish me for."

"Then step aside," Aro said. "And let us punish those who are responsible. Truly my friend, nothing will please me more than to let you survive."

"No law has been broken Aro." Carlisle told him. "Please let me explain."

He held his hand out but Caius was at Aro's side in an instant and he interrupted.

"So many pointless rules, so many unnecessary laws you create for yourself, Carlisle," He hissed. "How is it possible that you defend the breaking of one that truly matters?"

I couldn't stop the growl that tore through my lips and neither did Emmett. Caius turned to regard us as some people on their side of the line bared their teeth.

"Stay out of this boys," He snarled. "Or you will be the first ones to be slaughtered."

I felt my eyes glaze over as I bared my teeth. He took a step back as he looked into my eyes. He studied me warily like he was trying to figure out what I was but he said nothing. Carlisle tried talking again but he was interrupted.

"The law has not been broken," He said. "If you would just listen-"

"We see the child in question Carlisle," Caius snapped. "Do not treat us like fools!"

_Trust me,_ I thought as I snorted softly. _You do not need any help from us in that department._

"She is not an immortal. She is not a vampire. I can easily prove this with just a few moments—"

Caius cut him off again.

"If she is not the forbidden one," He hissed. "Then why have you massed a battalion to protect her?"

_Because you bastards wouldn't have stopped to hear the truth,_ I thought bitterly. I wanted to say this out loud but Tanya was giving me a warning glance.

"They are witnesses Caius," Carlisle said gently. "Just like the ones you brought."

He gestured to the group behind him and some of them growled.

"Any one of these friends can tell you the truth about the child." Carlisle said as if nothing ever happened. "Or you could just look at her, Caius. You can see the flush of human blood in her cheeks."

"Artifice!" Caius spat as he looked at Aro. "It is her is it not? The one you saw in Gianna's memories?"

"Yes," He said slowly as he looked at Nessie. "But she looks different."

"What do you mean?" Caius demanded in a steely voice.

"She is the same child," Aro said. "But she has grown. Gianna's memory clearly showed an immortal child but here she is different. Curious, very curious."

"That's what I've been trying to tell you," Carlisle said as he held out his hand.

"I would rather have the explanation from someone more central to the story, my friend." He said after a moment of hesitation. "Am I wrong to assume that this breach was not of your making?"

"There was no breach Aro."

"Be that as it may," Aro said, his voice was harder now. "I will have every facet of the truth. The best way to get that is to have the evidence directly from your talented son." He inclined his head in Edward's direction. "As the child clings to his newborn mate, I'm assuming Edward is involved."

_Here we go_ I heard Takoda say. _Get ready, your going to be called soon._

_So you're still around_, I thought. _That's good._

_Hush,_ He chided. _Pay attention._

Edward quickly kissed Nessie's forehead while he refused to look at Bella. He walked through the snowy field, and clapped Carlisle on the back as he passed. I heard Esme whimper a little and I saw Jane smile. It wasn't a sweet smile but a smug one. I glared at her, wishing I could set her on fire with my gaze.

Edward kept walking for a few moments then I heard Bella give a startled laugh before her face dropped. The other must have thought she lost her mind but I knew that she finally has control of her gift. She laughed because it worked but she stopped because it meant she would have to leave Edward unprotected so Aro could read his mind. Edward kept his head up arrogantly and held his hand out to Aro in a way that made it seem that Aro should feel honored to touch Edward.

Aro seemed delighted with this gesture but it was not a universal feeling amongst the Volturi. Alec narrowed his eyes at Edward. Jane bared her teeth. Caius scowled and Renata jerked nervously from behind Aro.

Aro closed the distance without pause but then again, what did he have to fear? He had two members who could incapacitate an opponent without lifting a finger. He had a hulking vampire who was one of the best fighters out there and he was possibly the strongest vampire in existence. The only one that could stop the first two would be Bella. And I'm sure Emmett would love to try and take Felix.

Bella hissed in frustration after Aro slumped his shoulders and took in all the information that was in Edward's head. Edward bowed his head as he saw everything replayed to him on top of the things that were happening right now.

Low murmurs ran through the Volturi line until Caius barked a sharp order for silence. Jane was edging forward like she couldn't help herself, and Renata's face was rigid with distress. I examined this shield that seemed so panicky and weak. She was useful to Aro, but I could tell that she was no warrior. It was not her job to fight but to protect. There was no bloodlust in her. There was no fighting spirit. She would be obliterated so easily if it came to a fight.

Aro straightened up after a moment. He still didn't let go of Edward's hand as Edward straightened up as well.

"Do you see?" Edward asked calmly.

"Yes, indeed I do," Aro agreed sounding almost amused. "I doubt whether anyone among gods or mortals could have ever seen something so clearly."

I rolled my eyes. Really? Comparing yourself to a god? How arrogant can you get?

The disciplined line of the Volturi shared a look of disbelief. I'm sure some of the people in our line did too.

"You have given me much to ponder my young friend," Aro continued. "Much more than I expected."

He did not release Edward's hand, and he looked between me and Renesmee.

"May I meet them?" Aro asked, no, _pleaded_ eagerly. "I never dreamed of the existence of anything like this in all my centuries. What an addition to our world's history!"

"What is this about, Aro?" Caius snapped before Edward could answer.

"Something you've never dreamed of, my practical friend." He told Caius. "Take a moment to ponder that, for the justice we intended to deliver no longer applies."

Caius hissed and stepped back in surprise at Aro's words.

"Peace, brother," Aro cautioned soothingly. "Peace."

I replayed what Aro just said and the double meaning in it. It sounded like he was telling Caius to look for a law we may have broken or make one up.

"Will you introduce me to your daughter?" Aro asked before looking at me. "And your new cousin?"

By now everyone was either looking at me or Nessie or they hissed at the revelation except Tanya who snarled. Edward nodded reluctantly as Aro gripped his hand.

"I think a compromise on this one point is certainly acceptable, under the circumstance." He murmured answering Edward's unspoken question. "We will meet in the middle."

With that, Aro released his hand. Edward turned back toward us, and Aro joined him, throwing one arm casually over Edward's shoulder like they were the best of friends. It was an act though, it was just to maintain contact with Edward's skin. They began to cross the field back over to our side. The entire guard fell into step behind them. Aro raised a hand negligently without looking at them.

"Hold my dear ones," He said. "They truly mean us no harm if we are peaceable."

The guard was very vocal after that. They snarled and hissed in protest but the stayed where they were.

"Master," Renata whimpered in anxiety. Edward made a face and Aro looked over his shoulder.

"Do not not fret my love," He murmured. "All is well." And he kept walking as she clung to his back.

My love? What the hell? Did I hear that right? I glanced at the wives to see if one of them would react and both of them did. They held hands with each other. It wasn't in the 'I'll back you up' kinda way it was in the...No that couldn't be possible. There was no way that they could be together. How could they be? They were married to two seperate people and have been for over a few millenia.

But there was a voice in my head telling me it was possible. I didn't dwell on it because I heard Edward speak.

"Perhaps you should bring a few members of your guard with us," He suggested. "It might make them more comfortable."

Aro nodded as if it was an idea he should've thought of before he snapped his fingers three times.

"Felix, Demetri, Afton."

I frowned slightly when he said Afton but I shrugged it off. He probably saw that I didn't like him and he wanted to try and get a rise out of me. All three of them moved quickly to either flank him or stand behind Renata. They had dark hair except Afton who looked really happy to be up front.

"Bella, Thomas," Edward called. "Come closer and bring Renesmee...with a few friends."

"Ok," Bella said. "Emmett and Jacob."

Emmett grinned and so did Jacob. I moved forward after I shot Tanya a reassuring smile.

"You better come back." She grumbled. I took her hand and squeezed it.

"I will." I promised her as she squeezed my hand before letting go.

I flashed over to Jacob and flanked him. I would've asked Embry to come but decided against it. I knew Aro was interested in him but I had protection, he didn't so I let him be.

There was a rumble through the opposing group. Half had their eyes on me. Trying to figure out what I was or my connection to Tanya. The others eyed Jacob warily. I guess they didn't trust him. Good.

I heard some one running towards me before flashing over to Jacob's left flank. I looked over and saw Embry grinning like a mad man.

"I don't remember anyone inviting you to this party." I told him sounding both amused and annoyed. His grin got even bigger and I thought his face was going to split in half for a second.

"No one did," He said. "But I did the math, you guys were one short."

"And how did she take it?" I asked refering to Irina.

"She's mad," He said. "But I'm sure she understands."

"Idiot." I grumbled shaking my head. Irina would be more than mad, she would be pissed and I'm sure this made Aro's defender's more skittish. Aro waved away any protest that he heard.

"Interesting company you keep." Demetri murmured to Edward while eyeing Jacob, Embry and I. Edward said nothing but a low growl slipped through Jacob's teeth. I elbowed him in warning as we stopped a few yards away from Aro. Edward ducked from under Aro's arm and went over to Bella. They stared at each other until Felix spoke.

"Hello again Bella." He said grinning.

"Hey Felix." She said smiling wryly which caused Felix to chuckle.

"You look good." He said. "Immortality suits you."

Was it my imagination or was he flirting with her?

"Thanks."

"You're welcome. Too bad..." He trailed and I raised an eyebrow at him. Either he was trying to get a rise out of Edward by flirting/threating Bella, or he's an idiot. Probably both.

"Yeah, too bad." She said and Felix winked. Aro payed them no mind as he stared at Nessie in fascination.

"I hear her heartbeat," He murmured. "I smell her scent." His eyes shifted to Bella. "In truth, young Bella, immortality does become you most extraordinarily," he said. "It is as if you were designed for the life of the supernatural."

She nodded her thanks for his compliment while he eyed her pendant.

"You like my gift?" He asked.

"It's very beautiful," She told him. "And very, generous of you. Thank you. I probably should have sent you a note."

"It's just a little something I had lying around." He said laughing delightedly. "I thought it might complement your new face, and so it does."

There was a hiss from behind him and I saw Jane glaring daggars at Bella. I caught Embry's eye and we smirked. So little Jane felt jealous did she?

Aro cleared his throat bringing the attention back to him. He smiled at me and I forced a smile.

"And you must be young Thomas." He said with a smile and I nodded as I moved to stand infront of Jacob. "How delighted I am to meet someone like you."

He held his hand out and I took it. I had to hold back a smirk as his smile wavered and was replaced by a look of confusion.

_Just hold on,_ Takoda said. _After you let go, the power will wear off. You may not get another chance._

_So he can't hear this conversation?_

_No_ He said. _And neither can Edward._

_Got it._

"Thank you Aro," I said as I noticed that people from his side of the line glared at me. He smiled again but didn't let go of my hand. "It is...interesting to say the least that you felt the need to include me in this discussion."

"Well I'm very intrigued by you." Was his response.

_I bet you are you dick,_ I thought. I almost laughed when I saw him give no response at all.

"Yes," I murmured. "But maybe you should focus on the reason why you came here."

_What the hell are you doing?_

_This guy is creepier in real life than in my dreams and his skin feels nasty, not to mention cold. I hardly feel cold anymore yet he is freakishly cold._

Takoda said nothing but Afton did.

"Watch how you speak to my master," He hissed. "You have no right to tell him what to do."

I regarded him calmly despite the fact that I wanted to rip him apart.

"It was merely a suggestion," I said as Aro still held my hand. Don't know why he's even trying. "He came here to investigate a claim which does not involve me. He has questions, but I cannot provide him the answers that he seeks. If he wants them, he will need the source which happens to be the little girl you see." I inclined my head towards Nessie. "I thought you would know this but I guess a few moments here with the big boys has swelled your ego and clouded your judgement."

I paused and saw his face drop while Demetri and Felix looked like they were trying hard not to laugh.

"Don't worry, I'm sure when your master has what he needs you'll go back to being another fool that sees no action. Someone who recieves no gratitude for their service. Someone who is apart of this entire opperation only because his mate is more powerful and is more desired than he is. And someone, who, in the long run, is and will always be, completely and utterly useless."

Demetri and Felix coughed to hide their laughter as Afton kept opening and closing his mouth like a fish. He did this several times before he growled at me.

"Why you-"

"Afton," Aro said. "Calm yourself."

"But master-"

"I said," Aro interrupted while looking over his shoulder. "Calm yourself."

Afton nodded before he glared at me.

"Do you have any questions Aro?" I asked. "For me, I mean?"

"Several," He said. "Like how does your gift work?"

"I'm not sure," I said. "It's hard to explain."

"If you open your mind to me-"

"I prefer to keep my thoughts to myself," I said cutting him off. "I like to keep certain things private and I wish for it to remain that way. Next question please."

"How is it," He began. "That you are mated to Tanya Denali, leader of the Alaskan coven?"

"That is none of your business," I told him firmly. "Our relationship is none of your concern."

"Oh yes it is," Caius sneered. "We-"

"Peace brother," Aro said as he saw the look on my face. "Peace."

"Wha-"

"Peace," He told him coldly before addressing me. "My apologies, I did need mean to strike a nerve."

_Oh yes you did,_ Takoda said. _What an ass._

"It's fine," I said. "Is there anything else?"

"Just one more thing," He said. "Would it be possible for you to give us a demonstration of your fighting prowess?"

"Demonstration?" I asked narrowing my eyes.

"You do know what that means right?" Afton sneered. I stared at him coldly.

"Funny," I said. "I don't remember asking you that question nor do I remember anyone else doing so. How about you do yourself and everyone here a favor, and keep your trap shut."

He hissed at me but Aro shot him a look and he stopped. Demetri and Felix were smiling at me. I guess they got a kick out of our banter.

"From what I understand," He said. "That is a weapon belted behind your back, and you happen to be a decent fighter, would you kindly show me and my dear ones what you can do?"

"Ah a threat assessment," I said. "Why didn't you just say so?"

"That's not what-"

"Please," I said holding up my free hand to stop him from talking. "You may have your lackey's and witnesses fooled, but you cannot fool me." Everyone on his side of the line growled at me. "This is a threat assessment to see if you can include me in these many layers of attack that you have to try and convict this _innocent _family of a crime that they didn't commit. So like I said, why didn't you just say so?"

I paused as I saw his face contort in shock.

"To answer your question," I murmured. "I don't know." I shrugged.

"What's the matter," Afton drawled. "You scared?"

"Yes," I said seriously and he frowned. "Yes I am."

"What?"

"I'm scared," I said slowly. "For the poor soul that I'll have to humiliate in front of their coven." I glanced at their witnesses. "And the audience that will be watching this potential exchange." I looked Aro in the eye. "May I have my hand back?"

He blinked and nodded before he reluctantly let my hand go.

"Is there no way to convince you to do so?" He inquired.

"No."

"Not even," He began. "If I let you challange the ones who hurt your pack sister?"

I glared at him while Jake and Embry growled which cause nearly everyone on his side to crouch. The only ones that didn't were the other two ancients.

"Is this demonstration that important to you?" I hissed through my teeth and he shrugged slightly.

"Does she mean so little to you?" He countered.

My eye twitched and Caius hissed behind us.

"So you are a dog." He snarled and I growled at him.

"What's the matter," I spat. "Are you afraid?"

"No." He hissed I snorted.

"Yeah sure you're not," I said rolling my eyes before turning back to Aro who was smiling. "When?"

"I'm sorry," He said. "What do you mean?"

"When do you want this to happen?" I asked.

"So you accept my offer?" He said gleefully.

"Do I have a choice?" I growled and he shrugged.

"So do you wish to challange Afton or Alexi?" He asked and Afton became confused.

"Master?" He said.

"You encountered this young wolf when you came to Forks not too long ago," Aro explained. "He was in his wolf form at the time though."

Afton was still puzzled so I glazed my eyes over and bared my teeth.

"Do you recognize me now slick?" I asked and he frowned before his eyes widened then narrowed.

"You." He hissed.

"Yes it's me so what of it?" I asked dryly.

_Why are you stealing my lines?_ Takoda asked.

_You can't steal what was already yours. You're apart of me remember?_

No response.

"So Thomas," Aro said bringing the attention back to him. I'm really glad he's calling me that and not T.J. because I would have to rip his head off. Only my friends and family can call me that and he is nothing to me but a pain in the ass. "Who would you prefer?"

"Both." I answered and I was met with stunned expressions.

"Both?" He asked and I nodded.

"Both."

"So who do you wish to fight first?"

"Both of them."

"2 against 1?" He asked. "That hardly seems fair."

"It is," I told him. "Those two will need as much help as they can get against me."

Several people laughed at me but I just held a blank expression.

"Are you sure?" Aro asked.

"Do you want the demonstration or not?" I asked.

"Sure," He said. "But I would feel more comfortable if you had a partner."

"You asked for me and you're only getting me." I said acidly. "Nobody else."

"I'll do it." Embry said. I whipped my head around to glare at him. "If that's alright with you?" He asked Aro while ignoring me.

"I accept."

"I don't," I spat as I turned to Aro. "You wanted me remember, not him."

"But I thought you would fight one or the other," He said. "Now you are asking for the both of them and I need to make it even. Therefore, you will need a partner or there will be no fight."

"Just accept it." Embry said.

I didn't take my eyes of of Aro as I asked Embry in Quiluete what he was playing at. He said that it would be a great way to show them not to mess with us. I told him that it could give them ammunition against us. He said that they would be stupid to do so because their leader asked us to do this.

"Fine," I said through my teeth. "We accept." There were sounds of protest from our families and our friends.

"Wonderful!" He said. "Now there must be some rules."

"The obvious being that there will be no outside interference from either group." I shot the witch twins a look after I finished my sentence before turning back to Aro.

"Exactly," He agreed. "Another being that the match will be over when both members of either team are unable to continue."

"About that," I murmured. "Do we agree that if we dismantle them, we win right?"

Aro chuckled like what I said amused him and Afton snorted.

"If you manage to do so," He said. "Then yes, it will be over. However, if they knock you out, the victory goes to them."

"Do we also agree that neither side will retaliate if their combatants lose?"

"Of course." He said.

"If anyone tries, the other side has the option to kill the person who does."

"Yes."

"And we can use our weapons?"

"If you must."

"Fine." I said and held my hand out and Aro took it.

"We have a deal." He said as he let go.

"So," I said. "When do we fight?"

"How about now," He said. "After I speak with the child I will have to council with my brothers and I wouldn't be able to watch the show."

I turned my head around to look at Embry and he shrugged.

"Why not?" He said.

"Fantastic!" Aro cheered. "Afton! Alexi! Get into positions."

Afton flitted away and stood right on the imaginary line that seperated our groups facing the West. Alexi joined him after.

"Excuse me," I told Aro before turning to Embry. "Let's go."

He nodded and we shuffled past everyone and stood opposite Afton and Alexi who were 15 feet away from us so were were facing the East. I glanced at Tanya. She looked worried so I smiled at her, hoping I would cheer her up. She smiled a little so I turned to Embry.

"Unsheath your scythe." I told him.

"Joe Bob, it's name is Joe Bob." He said and I heard Jacob snicker.

"Fine, unsheath Joe Bob." I grumbled and he complied.

"Oh," I said. "And Afton is mine."

He nodded.

"Warriors," Aro said, sounding like a fight announcer. "You may begin."

None of us moved, we were just staring at each other. After a few moments, Afton rolled his eyes and walked towards me. I caught a glimpse of him trying to make me back down so I just rolled my eyes.

"Don't do anything until I say so." I told Embry as I saw him tense up. He nodded once as Afton stopped a few feet away from me.

"You don't stand a chance," He said as he looked me up and down. "You should surrender now."

"Tell me, why would I surrender to a piece of trash like you?" I said and his eyes darkened.

"Do not talk to me like-"

"Or what, you'll bore me to death?" I asked cutting him off. His nostrils flared and he back handed me.

"Do not interrupt me you stupid mutt!" He roared. I threw my hand infront of Embry as he tried to lunge at Afton.

"Do not move." I told him before I turned to Afton. "You know, invisibilty may not be your gift. Maybe your gift is to be an annoying idiot who thinks he's the best thing since sliced bread."

He tried to slap me again but I swatted his hand away before I shoved him back. I shoved him so hard he flew all the way back to where he was standing before.

"That will be the last time you touch me." I said coldly as he stayed on the ground looking dumbstruck. I glanced around and the other members of the Volturi were dumbstruck as well. I guess they thought I couldn't do it.

"5 bucks on the dogs." I head Felix say.

"I'll take some of that action." Alec said. "But I got my money on Afton and Alexi."

"I'm with Felix." Demetri said.

There were murmurs from both lines as Afton sprang to his feet.

"Your dead." He hissed.

"Grab him when I tell you to Embry," I said softly to him before I addressed Afton. "Let's dance."

_Cheesy one liner is cheesy._ Takoda said.

_Shut up._

Afton charged at me and I charged at him. I drew Alika and held it at my side. When he got close, I swung at his knee and clipped it, causing him to trip.

"Now Embry!" I said over my shoulder as I bolted towards Alexi. He crouched before he lunged at me. I ducked under his arm and whacked him in the stomach with Alika. He yelped and he lurched forward. I used my left hand to grab the scruff of his neck so I could hold him down. I leaned in close so I could whisper in his ear.

"This is for my sister." I hissed.

I practically dragged him over to where Embry held Afton back with Joe Bob.

"Let him go when I tell you to!" I told Embry and he nodded while Afton tried to break free. Alexi struggled in my grip as we kept moving. When we where a few feet away, I asked Embry to let him go.

"Now!" I said and he shoved Afton forward while I threw Alexi at him. Alexi didn't lift his head up in time and he went face first into Afton's crotch. Afton howled in agony before he fell to the ground cupping himself in an attempt to ease the pain. Alexi was no better, he tried rubbing his head but he kept wincing everytime he did.

There was a stunned silence which Embry decided to break. He spread his arms wide and yelled at the top of his lungs.

"ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED!" He said and several people on our side of the line (Garrett, Emmett, Benjamin, and Peter to name a few) roared with laughter. I saw Demetri and Felix shaking with silent laughter.

"Quoting a scene from Gladiator," I said sounding a little bemused. "Really Embry?"

"I thought it would work." He said raising Joe Bob as Afton and Alexi stood up.

I twisted the wolf head on Alika and the spike extended out of it. I held Alika out with the spike laying to the side, while me and Embry circled our prey like in all those sword and sandles movies. I was facing Alexi who looked like a conored rat trying to find a way out. Afton was snapping his teeth at Embry but he backed up when Embry swung Joe Bob in a downward slash.

I could make out a gash underneath his jaw where Embry had Joe Bob earlier. I guess he's afraid of Joe Bob now.

"This is getting boring," I said with a sigh. "Alexi?"

"What?" He hissed. His accent was the only one beside's Gianna that was Italian. The rest had either English accents or muddled one's.

"Would you mind switching places with Afton?" I asked. "Don't get me wrong, I have problems with you too, but he is my priority."

I heard someone hiss at me. Must be Chelsea.

Alexi hesitated but Afton spoke.

"Switch." He said through his teeth. Alexi nodded and they switched. Afton's eyes were black with rage.

"You will die today mongrel."

"Jeeze could you vampires come up with better slurs?" I asked rolling my eyes. "Saying the same thing over and over again is very annoying. Not to mention that it loses what ever power it may or may not have. But enough of that, how are you doing Afton? Nice weather were having yes?"

He looked at me like I grew another head before he went back to glaring at me.

"Lose the stick so I can kill you." He growled and I laughed.

"First of all," I said as I continued to circle him. "This is not a stick, this is a weapon made of various materials that can be deadly to any life form if it was in the right hands. It's name is Alekanekelo or Alika for short. It means protector." I twirled my weapon backwards once, forwards once, then backwards twice before I rested the spike on the back of my neck. "Second of all, you won't kill me because you won't even get that close. And finally, you don't want me to lose this weapon."

"Why not?" He hissed.

"Because," I said. "If my hands are free, I'll be more than capable of tearing you to pieces. I only started learning how to use this weapon and I'm using you as a practice dummy." I paused as he gave an indignant hiss. "I fight better with my hands and if I drop this now, you won't last long."

"Fine!" He snarled before he ran towards me. He swung at me with his right arm but I blocked his attack with Alika. I then swung Alika across his stomach, leaving a deep wound. He shrieked in pain and I could hear Alexi cry out. I stabbed Afton in the chest before I pulled Alika out, twirled it above my head as I spun around, and slashed at his right leg with enough speed and force to slice it off.

His cries of pain were so loud that birds a few hundred yards away scattered because of the noise. He crawled away from me as I saw Alexi's head roll away from his body. There was an outraged hiss as someone ran toward us.

"You bastard!" Someone shouted I looked up and saw that Gianna was making her way towards Embry. I was going to run and block her but Demetri got there first and held her back.

"Control yourself!" He snapped.

"But he-"

"Did what was agreed Gianna," He finished for her. "Master Aro said that this was required."

"But-"

"Silence!"

I disregarded the exchange and stalked towards Afton.

"Please, show mercy!" He said holding his hands up. I glowered at him.

"Mercy?" I repeated in disbelief. "Tell me, Afton, did you show Elena McIntyre any mercy that night you scared her to death in that warehouse?"

His eyes widened in fear.

"How did you-"

"Answer the question!" I snapped and he flinched.

"No."

"What did you do instead?"

"I-I had a little-"

"Fun?" I asked softly and he nodded. "Tell me what was your idea of fun hmm? Was it, trying to rip her clothes off while you burned another member of your kind right in front of her? Was he a friend to her?"

He didn't answer, he just tried to crawl away from me. I twirled Alika until I had the spike facing down then I stabbed him in his left thigh. He cried out as I twisted Alika.

"Yes he was a friend!" He wailed. "He broke the law and we killed him! I thought she was his pet that he never got rid of so I wanted to try out some things with her. Please stop!"

I pulled Alika out of his thigh and he relaxed a little. I held Alika up to my face and examined it. Not a single blemish was on it despite the fact that I just used it to impale a vampire. The venom should've seared it off but it was in great condition not to mention perfectly balanced. For me at least.

"I didn't say you could move Afton." I said while studying my weapon. I heard him trying crawl away but he stopped when I spoke. "You want to know something? Your master had the wrong impression of me."

I looked down at him and he was just blinking at me.

"In the sense, that I'm only doing this to avenge my sisters honor," I explained. "She doesn't need anyone to stick up for her and she despises the idea of having to rely on anyone. Apart of me wants to ignore all of that and help her out anyway." I heard growling from our side of the line. "But honestly I'm more afraid of her than all of you," I gestured to the guard. "Combined."

He said nothing.

"Do you want to know why I don't like you?" I said. "Because of you, him," I pointed at Alexi. "And her," I glared at Gianna and she flinched. "All of this nonesense," I gestured to the surrounding groups. "Was done because you three idiots felt the need to be nosy and rat out my friends and family. Sure you did it as an errand for someone else," I sent Jane a nasty look which she returned in kind. "But it was because of you three that all of this has happened."

"You forgot-"

"Ivan?" I asked cutting him off. "Ivan didn't come here and spy on Bella Cullen, you three did. Sure, he may have planned on it but he's a bit preoccupied at the moment, isn't he?" I scanned the crowed. "I don't see him so he must be with Elena and her family."

Again he said nothing.

"You may not care about the Cullens or anyone on my side of the line, but there is something you should care about." I told him. "Your masters and their wrath. Look at them and tell me that they are disapointed to learn that they came all this way for nothing."

I paused and he looked at them before swallowing nervously.

"Tell me that they aren't disapointed that a member of their guard, no matter how lowly ranked he is, got bested by someone who hasn't even been on this earth for a quarter of a century. And with a weapon no less." I continued. "They say that a chain is as strong as it's weakest link, but I would think that the Volturi would not tolerate any weak link nor would they have any. You asked me for mercy before Afton but that is something that I cannot give."

I looked over at Aro who was staring at me curiously. His eyes seemed to say, why are you dragging this on?

"That is something your master will have to give you." I said and Aro stiffened for a moment. "Go ahead Afton, ask him. But I'm warning you now, he won't allow it."

"Master please," He begged. "I concede, the match is theirs."

"I'm afraid," Aro began as he looked at me. "We agreed that in order for the match to stop, both members of either team must be unable to continue. As Alexi is out of the match that leaves your fate in his hands my dear boy."

"Funny," I said. "Had it been one of your wonder twins, or Demetri or even Chelsea, something tells you would have tried to weasel your way out of it." Aro looked affronted but I could care less. I looked back at Afton. "Your master doesn't care about you Afton he only cares about getting what he wants." I twirled Alika before I held it over my head with both hands. "Allow me to put you out of your misery for a moment."

I slammed Alika into his neck before he could make a sound. I tilted it to the side to use it as a fulcrum and snapped his head off.

"I believe," I said turning to regard Aro. "The match goes to us."

He nodded and someone shrieked in protest. I turned to see a fuming Chelsea.

"Master you cannot let these dogs get away this!" She said. "They must be killed!"

"Chelsea my dear," Aro said softly. "They won the match fairly and within the guidelines that were set by the both parties."

"But-"

"That is enough." He said swiftly. "Contain yourself Chelsea. Afton will be fine once we find someone to sustain him. Same with Alexi."

"Let's go Embry." I said walking back over to where Jacob was. "Alec, I believe you owe Felix and Demetri some money."

I didn't like the look in Aro's eyes as I passed him. I flanked Jacob and glnced at the Volturi line to see most of them glaring at me. Chelsea looked like she wanted to strangle me.

_So she's not focusing on using her gift._ I thought.

_Did you plan that?_ Takoda asked.

_No._ I said. _But it's a benefit of what just happened._

_Because she will be too angry to try and make people switch their loyalties?_ He asked.

_That, and the fact that their down two people._

_Good point._

I twisted the wolf head on Alika and the spike retracted. I placed it back in my belt and kept my hands to the side.

"May I greet your daughter, lovely Bella?" Aro asked sweetly after Embry flanked Jake's left side. I fought the urge to roll my eyes at him. He was acting as if nothing happened. Could anyone be more fake than him? "She is so exquisite," He murmured. "Just like you and Edward." And then louder. "Hello, Renesmee."

Nessie looked at Bella who nodded.

"Hello Aro," She answered polietly and Aro's eyes became bemused.

"What is it?" That bastard Caius hissed.

"_She_," I said gnashing my teeth. "Is not an _it_. So watch yourself."

He just glared at me and would've said something but Aro spoke up.

"Half mortal, half immortal." He said without turning around. "Conceived and carried by this newborn while she was still human."

"Impossible." Caius scoffed.

"So you believe they have fooled me brother?" Aro asked sounding amused but Caius flinched.

"Is the heartbeat you hear trickery as well?" He asked and Caius scowled.

"Calmly and carefully, brother," Aro cautioned as he kept smiling at Nessie. "I know how you love your justice, but there is no justice in acting against this little one for her parentage. And so much to learn, so much to learn! I know you don't have my enthusiasm for collecting histories, but be tolerant with me, brother, as I add a chapter that stuns me with its improbability. We came expecting only justice but because of false information, look what we have gained instead! A new, bright knowledge of ourselves, and our possibilities."

Aro held out his hand to Nessie but she didn't want that. She leaned away from Bella, stretching upward to touch Aro's face with her finger tips. Aro did not react the way almost everyone else reacted when Nessie did this to them. He was as used to the flow of thought and memory from other minds as Edward was.

"Brilliant," He whispered, his smile widening.

"Please?" She asked him looking and sounding serious. I caught a glimpse of him answering her question and the reaction from Maggie and Edward. He was going to lie to her. I glared at him as he opened his mouth.

"Of course I have no desire to harm your loved ones, precious Renesmee." He said with a gentle smile. I growled softly, Edward ground his teeth together and Maggie hissed.

"I wonder." He said thoughtfully before he looked at Jacob. I froze when a vision of him talking about guard dogs went through my mind. I slowly moved towards Embry and stood behind him.

"What?" He asked and I shook my head.

"That's not how it works." Edward said harshly.

"Just an errant thought," Aro said appraising Jacob openly, and then his eyes moved slowly across the two lines of werewolves behind us.

"They don't belong to us, Aro. They don't follow our commands that way. They're here because they want to be." Edward snapped.

Embry tensed and Jacob growled menacingly.

"They seem quite attached to you though," Aro said. "Along with your young mate and your...family. Loyal, very loyal."

"They're committed to protecting human life, Aro." Edward told him. "That makes them able to coexist with us. It could never work with you. Unless you're rethinking your lifestyle."

"Just an errant thought," He repeated with a laugh. "You know how that goes. None of us can entirely control our subconscious desires."

"I do know how that goes." Edward said with a grimace. "And I also know the difference between that kind of thought and the kind with a purpose behind it. It could never work, Aro."

Jacob let out a small whine.

"He was intrigued with the idea of...guard dogs." Edward murmured.

I threw my left arm around Embry and I grabbed a handful of Jacob's fur with my right hand. The was a second of silence before there were furious snarls and Embry struggled in my hold. I could hear Sam bark and they all went silent.

"Well that answers that," Aro laughed. "This lot has chosen it's side."

Edward hissed and leaned forward. I really didn't want to know what Aro was thinking because I'm sure I would be tempted to let Embry go and I'm sure I would help him rip Aro to shreds. Demetri flashed back to the spot he was standing in and crouched along with Felix. Aro waved them off.

"So much to discuss," He said sounding very business like. "So much to decide. If you and your furry protector will excuse me, my dear Cullens, I must speak to my brothers."

He didn't rejoin his guard, he waved them forward instead. Of course, why should Aro go to them when they should come to him. Silly me for thinking otherwise. I noticed several of them hovered over Alexi and Afton. Chelsea was among them.

We moved backwards slowly. I was towing Jacob and Embry. Edward had Emmett and Bella. Nessie saw me and placed her hand on my arm.

_I'll get Jakey._ She told me. I raised an eyebrow at Edward and he nodded. I slowly let go of Jake. He wasn't putting up a fight but I could tell that he was itching to maul Aro. I wrapped my other arm around Embry and pulled him back faster. I glanced over my shoulder every so often just to make sure I didn't bump into anyone.

When I was a few feet away from the Denali's, I let go so I could stand in front of Embry and push him back.

"Why did you stop me?" He spat at me. "I could have taken him."

"And what about the the others?" I hissed back as I guided him to Irina. "Did you forget about them?"

He said nothing but he looked passed me and glared at the Volturi. Irina took his hand in her's and he relaxed slightly. Seeing that he wouldn't try to run towards them, I made my way over to Tanya who almost broke my hand when she grabbed it.

"I'm fine." I whispered as I eyed the Volturi who were now 50 yards away. She said nothing as Caius began to argue with Aro.

"How can you abide by this infamy?" He snarled. "Why do we stand here impotently in the face of such an outrageous crime, that is covered by such ridiculous deception?" He held his arms rigidly at his sides, his hands curled into claws.

_He must really like the sound of his voice,_ I thought while rolling my eyes. Why didn't he just council silently with Aro? This has to be an act.

"Because it's all true brother," Aro told him calmly. "Every word of it. See how many witnesses stand ready to give evidence that they have seen this miraculous child grow and mature in just the short time they've known her. That they have felt the warmth of the blood that pulses in her veins." Aro's gesture swept from Amun on one side across to Siobhan on the other.

Caius reacted oddly to Aro's words. He stared ever so slightly at the mention of witnesses. The anger drained from his features only to be replaced by cold calculation. He glanced at the Volturi witnesses with an expression that looked vaguely...nervous.

I glanced at their witnesses and they didn't look angry or hostile. Their frenzy for action had turned to complete confusion. There were whispered conversations that spread through the crowd as they tried to make sense of what was happening.

Caius was frowning, deep in thought. It was a few moments before he spoke again.

"The werewolves," He murmured and I snorted.

"This should be interesting," I said.

"Er brother..." Aro answered Caius's statement with what looked like a pained look.

"Will you defend that alliance as well, Aro?" Caius demanded. "The Children of the Moon have been our bitter enemies from the dawn of time." Vladimir and Stefan snarled at that. "We have hunted them to near extinction in Europe and Asia. Yet Carlisle encourages a familiar relationship with this enormous infestation. No doubt in an attempt to overthrow us. The better to protect his warped lifestyle."

Several people on our side of the line growled at him. Edward cleared his throat loudly and Caius glared at him. Aro placed a hand over his mouth as if he were embarrassed for Caius.

"Caius, it's the middle of the day," Edward pointed out. He gestured to Jacob. "They are clearly not the Children of the Moon. They bear no relation to your enemies on the other side of the world."

"So you've bred mutants then?" He spat and all the wolves growled loudly. I just glared at him.

Edward clenched and unclenched his jaw before he spoke.

"They aren't even werewolves." He said in an even tone. "Aro can tell you all about it if you don't believe me."

"Dear brother I would have warned you not to press this point if you had told me your thoughts," Aro murmured to him. "Though these creatures think of themselves as werewolves, they are not. The more accurate name for them would be shapeshifters. The choice of a wolf was purely chance. It could have been a bear or a hawk or a panther when the first change was made." He paused and glanced at the line again. "These creatures truly have nothing to do with the Children of the Moon. They have merely inherited this skill from their fathers," He looked at me and smiled. "Or their mothers. It's purely genetic, they do not continue their species by infecting others the way true werewolves do."

I narrowed my eyes at him. He better not be thinking of doing anything to my mother.

Caius glared at Aro with irritation and something more. Like an accusation or betrayal.

"They know our secret," he said flatly.

Edward looked like he wanted to answer this accusation, but Aro beat him to it.

"They are creatures of our supernatural world, brother." He explained. "Perhaps even more dependent upon secrecy than we are. They can hardly expose us. Careful Caius, wild allegations will get us nowhere."

Caius took in a deep breath before he glared at me and Tanya. I glared right back.

"And what of them?"

"What about us?" I hissed.

"You may not be a child of the moon," He spat. "But this union is hardly legal." He glanced at Aro. "Unless you wish to defend them as well?"

Aro was going to say something but he got cut off by the one person everyone thought that wouldn't speak.

"If he does not," Marcus said in a small voice. "I will."

"Excuse me?" Caius said in disbelief.

"I said I will defend them."

"Why exactly?" Caius demanded. "They have no ties to us."

"I think I would know that brother," Marcus said a little stiffly. His face reflected boredom but there was a new light in his eyes. "After all, I am the one who can tell where one's allegiance's lie."

"Explain your reasoning then."

Aro offered his hand but Marcus waved it away.

"First," He began. "The bond between Tanya Denali and..." He glanced at me. Well not really at me, it looked like he was looking through me. "What is surname?"

I hesitated.

"Matthews." I said and he inclined his head.

"The bond between Tanya Denali and Thomas Matthews is something I've never felt in all my centuries," He went on. "It's one that rival's even that of Edward and his newborn mate. I'm sure that no one, not even Chelsea could break their bond."

I glanced at Chelsea and now she looked even more pissed.

"And them?" Caius demanded while pointing at Embry and Irina.

"The same thing my brother."

"This is insanity!" Caius roared. "Do you mean to tell me that you will vouch for the relationship between these mutts and their whores?"

Embry and I snarled in response and I started shaking. The only thing stopping me from phasing was Tanya holding my hand. I guess Embry was going through the same thing.

"Yes," Marcus said as if nothing else happened. There was a slight edge in his voice as he spoke. "I will vouch for them. Really brother, there is nothing wrong with these unions-"

"Nothing wrong!" Caius cried.

"They are perfectly natural," He continued as if he were not interrupted. He gained many incredulous looks but no one said anything to contradict him. "They are true mates. This is not some sort of infatuation for either party involved but instead, it is true love." His voice broke a little when he said the word love. "There is hardly cause for concern-"

"Hardly cause for concern?" Caius interrupted and Marcus' eyes flashed in irritation.

"Stop interrupting me," He snapped and many members of the guard blinked in surprise as did Aro and Caius. "Yes there is no cause for concern brother. We have no laws that forbid the union between shape shifters and vampires. And mark my words, there will never be one. I swear it on the gods of old, so leave them be, brother."

Caius and Aro looked like they were just slapped several times and the guard's jaws dropped. The witnesses raised an eyebrow while our line exchanged looks that said, 'Did that really just happen right now or was I seeing things?'

"How can you be so sure?" Caius asked. Has he lost his mind? Marcus just said that he could tell one's allegiance's lie.

Marcus raised his eyebrow slightly.

"This is my area of expertise," He said. "Or do you think I have lost my touch?"

Vladimir and Stefan murmured to each other in glee about Caius' discomfort. Aro touched his shoulder.

"This particular matter is closed," He said and Caius' face hardened. "Perhaps we should return to the more urgent matter."

Caius said nothing. He looked like someone who was just demoted, or at least, someone who was in alot of trouble.

Aro drifted forward. Renata, Felix, and Demetri automatically moved with him.

"Just to be thorough," He said, "I'd like to speak with a few of your witnesses. Procedure, you know." He waved a hand dismissively.

I caught a glimpse of him talking to Amun and what I saw made my shaking increase. I glared at this monster who would try to imply that a child could be dangerous so he could try and get what he wants.

"What's wrong?" Tanya asked at the same time Edward hissed and balled up his fist.

"You'll see." I said through my teeth as Aro ghosted across the snow to the far western end of our line, stopping about ten yards from Amun and Kebi. The nearby wolves bristled angrily but held their positions.

"Ah, Amun my southern neighbor!" Aro said warmly. "It has been so long since you've visited me."

Amun was motionless with anxiety and Kebi was as still as a statue at his side.

"Time means very little," Amun said through unmoving lips. "I never notice its passing."

"So true," Aro agreed with a nod. "But maybe you had another reason to stay away?"

Amun said nothing but his eye twitched slightly.

"It can be terribly time consuming to organize newcomers into a coven." Aro said. "I know that well! I'm grateful I have others to deal with the tedium. I'm glad your new additions have fit in so well. I would have loved to have been introduced. I'm sure you were meaning to come to see me soon."

"Of course," Amun said in an emotionless tone.

"Oh well, we're all together now! Isn't it lovely?"

Amun nodded but he kept his face blank.

"But the reason for your presence here is not as pleasant, unfortunately." Aro said sadly. "Carlisle called on you to bear witness for him?"

"Yes."

"And what did you witness for him?"

"I've observed the child in question." Amun said with the same cold lack of emotion." It was evident almost immediately that she was not an immortal child— "

"Perhaps we should define our terminology," Aro interrupted, "Now that there seem to be new classifications. By immortal child, you mean of course a human child who has been bitten and thus transformed into a vampire."

"Yes, that's what I meant."

"What else did you observe about the child?"

"The same things that you surely saw in Edward's mind." He said with a small frown. "That the child is his biologically. That she grows. That she learns."

"Yes, yes," Aro said with a hint of impatience in his tone. "But specifically in your few weeks here, what did you see?"

"That she grows...quickly." Amun said frowning some more and Aro smiled.

"And do you believe that she should be allowed to live?" He asked.

Everyone on our side of the line except Amun and Kebi, growled at him. In the back of the guard, the witnesses did the same thing. I couldn't tell if it was a reaction to us or what was just said.

Aro did not turn to the noise but Amun glanced around uneasily.

"I did not come to make judgments." He equivocated.

"Just your opinion." Aro said with a small laugh.

"I see no danger in the child." Amun said while lifting his chin. "She learns even more swiftly than she grows."

Aro nodded in consideration. After a moment, he turned away.

"Aro?" Amun called.

Aro whirled back. "Yes, friend?"

"I gave my witness. I have no more business here." He said. "My mate and I would like to take our leave now."

"Of course." He said with a warm smile. "I'm so glad we were able to chat for a bit. And I'm sure we'll see each other again soon."

Amun's lips were a tight line as he inclined his head once, acknowledging Aro's barely concealed threat.

He touched Kebi's arm, and then the two of them ran quickly to the southern edge of the meadow and disappeared into the trees. I had a feeling that they wouldn't stop running for a very long time.

Aro started gliding back along the length of our line to the east, his guards were hovering tensely. He stopped when he was in front of Siobhan's massive form.

"Hello, dear Siobhan." He said. "You are as lovely as ever."

Siobhan inclined her head, waiting for him to start.

"And you?" He asked. "Would you answer my questions the same way Amun has?"

"I would," Siobhan said. "But I would perhaps add a little more. Renesmee understands the limitations. She's no danger to humans, she blends in better than we do. She poses no threat of exposure."

"Can you think of none?" Aro asked soberly.

Edward started growling and I saw Caius' eyes brighten. Renata reached out protectively toward her master. And Garrett took a step forward, ignoring Kate's hand as she tried to caution him.

"I'm not sure I follow you." She said slowly.

Aro drifted back casually toward the rest of his guard like he was the king of the world. Renata, Felix, and Demetri were closer than his shadow.

"There is no broken law," Aro said in a placating voice, but every one of us could hear that a qualification was coming. I fought back the urge to growl.

"No broken law," He repeated. "However, does it follow then that there is no danger? No." He shook his head gently. "That is a separate issue."

"So you're making something up as you go along?" I spat but he ignored me as Maggie shook her head in anger.

He paced thoughtfully and I noticed that every pass took him closer to the protection of his guard.

"She is unique, impossibly unique." He said. "Such a waste it would be, to destroy something so lovely. Especially when we could learn so much..." He sighed, as if unwilling to go on. Oh give me a break! "But there is danger, a danger that cannot simply be ignored."

It was dead silent but I couldn't stop myself from twitching.

"How ironic it is that as the humans advance, as their faith in science grows and controls their world, the more free we are from discovery." He said. "Yet, as we become ever more uninhibited by their disbelief in the supernatural, they become strong enough in their technologies that, if they wished, they could actually pose a threat to us, even destroy some of us."

I snorted. What did this have to do with Nessie?

"For thousands and thousands of years, our secrecy has been more a matter of convenience, of ease, than of actual safety." He went on. "This last raw, angry century has given birth to weapons of such power that they endanger even immortals. Now our status as mere myth in truth protects us from these weak creatures we hunt.

"This amazing child-" He lifted his hand palm down as if to rest it on Renesmee, though he was forty yards from her now, almost within the Volturi formation again. "If we could but know her potential, know with absolute certainty that she could always remain shrouded within the obscurity that protects us. But we know nothing of what she will become! Her own parents are plagued by fears of her future. We cannot know what she will grow to be."

He paused, looking first at our witnesses, and then meaningfully, at his own. His voice gave a good imitation of sounding torn by his words, but I knew it was a lie. He wasn't torn up at all. "Only the known is safe." He said. "Only the known is tolerable. The unknown is...a vulnerability."

_Closed minded bastard._ Takoda said.

Caius's smile widened viciously and I bared my teeth.

"You're reaching Aro," Carlisle said in a bleak voice.

"Peace, friend." Aro smiled. His face was kind, his voice was gentle. "Let us not be hasty. Let us look at this from every side."

"May I offer a side to be considered?" Garrett petitioned in a level tone, taking another step forward much to Kate's dismay.

"Nomad," Aro said with a nod.

Garrett lifted his chin. He focused his eyes on the huddled mass behind the guard.

"I came here at Carlisle's request, as the others did, to bear witness," He said. "That is certainly no longer necessary, with regard to the child in question. We all see what she is.

"I stayed to witness something else. You," He jabbed his finger toward the wary vampires. "Two of you I know, Makenna, Charles, and I can see that many of you are also wanderers, roamers like I used to be. Always answering to no one. Think carefully on what I tell you now my Nomadic brothers and sisters.

"These ancient ones, specifically Aro and Caius, did not come here for justice as they told you." He shot a disgusted look at the two of them. "We all suspected as much, and now it has been proven. They came here, misled by their own people, but with a valid excuse for their action. Witness now as they seek flimsy excuses to continue their true mission. Witness them struggle to find a justification for their true purpose, to destroy my family." He gestured toward The Cullens and his new coven.

"The Volturi come to erase what they perceive as the competition. Perhaps, like me, you look at this clan's golden eyes and marvel at this strange sight. They are difficult to understand, it's true."

The three sisters coughed and raised an eyebrow at him. He just smiled at them before continuing.

"But the ancient ones look and see something besides their strange choice. They see power." He said. "I have witnessed the bonds within this family. I say family and not coven because that is what we are. These strange golden-eyed ones deny their very nature. The nature of our kind. But in return have they found something worth even more than mere gratification of desire. I've made a little study of them in my time here as I have found my mate in Katerina Denali."

He paused to smile at her and she looked slightly irritated that he used her full name but she smiled a little.

"And it seems to me that this intense family bonding, is the peaceful characteristic of sacrifice." He said. "There is no aggression here like we all saw in the large southern clans that grew and diminished so quickly in their wild feuds. There is no thought for domination. And Aro knows this better than I do."

I glanced at Aro whose face was politely amused. As if waiting for a child who was throwing a tantrum to realize that no one was paying attention to his behavior.

"Carlisle assured us all, when he told us what was coming, that he did not call us here to fight." He continued. "These witnesses," He pointed to Siobhan and Liam "Agreed to give evidence, to slow the Volturi's advance with their presence so that Carlisle would get the chance to present his case.

"But some of us wondered," His eyes flashed to Eleazar's face. "If Carlisle having truth on his side would be enough to stop the so-called justice. Are the Volturi here to protect the safety of our secrecy, or are they here to protect their own power? Did they come to destroy an illegal creation, or a certain way of life? Could they be satisfied when the danger turned out to be no more than a misunderstanding? Or would they push the issue without the excuse of justice?

"We have the answer to all these questions. We heard it in Aro's lying words, we have one with a gift of knowing such things for certain, and we see it now in Caius' eager smile. Their guard is just a mindless weapon, a tool in their masters quest for domination."

There was a small growl from Jane that interrupted Garrett for a moment.

"So now there are more questions. Questions that you must answer. Who rules you, nomads? Do you answer to someone's will besides your own? Are you free to choose your path, or will the Volturi decide how you will live?" He raised an eyebrow at them before he continued.

"I came here to witness. I stay to fight if it comes to that. The Volturi care nothing for the death of the child, especially an innocent one. They seek the death of our free will."

He turned to face Aro and Caius.

"So come, I say! Let's hear no more lying rationalizations!" He said. "Be honest in your intents as we will be honest in ours. We will defend our freedom. You will or will not attack it. Choose now, and let these witnesses see the true issue debated here."

He looked to the Volturi witnesses once more, his eyes probing each face. The power of his words was evident if you looked at each of there expressions.

"You might consider joining us." He told them. "If you think the Volturi will let you live to tell this tale, you are mistaken. We may all be destroyed," He shrugged it off and I raised an eyebrow. "But then again, maybe not. Perhaps we are on more equal footing than they know. Perhaps the Volturi have finally met their match. I promise you this though, if we fall, so do you."

He ended his speech by planting himself next to Kate and crouching a little.

"A very pretty speech my revolutinary friend." Aro said with a smile.

Garrett remained poised for attack.

"Revolutionary?" He growled. "Who am I revolting against, might I ask? Are you my king? Do you wish me to call you master too, like your sycophantic guard?"

"Peace, Garrett," Aro said tolerantly. "I meant only to refer to your time of birth. Still a patriot, I see."

"Watch yourself Aro," Garrett said glaring furiously. "You may be a king in Italy, but out here you are no one."

"Hear, hear." Embry and I said at the same time.

Aro's eye's flashed in anger before he forced a smile.

"Let us ask our witnesses," Aro suggested. "Let us hear their thoughts before we make our decision. Tell us, friends," He turned his back casually on us moving a few yards toward his mass of nervous observers, who were hovering even closer now to the edge of the forest. "What do you think of all this? I can assure you the child is not what we feared. Do we take the risk and let the child live? Do we put our world in jeopardy to keep their family intact? Or does earnest Garrett have the right of it? Will you join them in a fight against our sudden quest for dominion?"

I looked at Tanya and mothed _'Sudden?'_ She just rolled her eyes at Aro.

The witnesses met his gaze with careful faces. One, a small black-haired woman, looked briefly at the dark blond male at her side.

"Are those our only choices?" She asked suddenly gazing back to Aro. "Agree with you, or fight against you?"

"Of course not, most charming Makenna," Aro said, looking horrified that anyone could come to that conclusion. "You may go in peace, of course. Just as Amun did, even if you disagree with the council's decision."

Makenna looked at the man standing next to her. He just nodded mutely.

"We did not come here for a fight." She said. "We came here to witness. And our witness is that this condemned family is innocent. Everything that Garrett claimed is the truth."

"Ah," Aro said sadly. "I'm sorry you see us in that way. But such is the nature of our work."

_Well find a more honest line of work then,_ I thought.

"It is not what I see, but what I feel," The man standing next to Makenna said in a nervous voice. He glanced at Garrett. "Garrett said they have ways of knowing lies. I too, know when I am hearing the truth, and when I am not."

With frightened eyes he moved closer to Makenna, waiting for Aro's reaction.

"Do not fear us, friend Charles." Aro said. "No doubt the patriot truly believes what he says."

Aro chuckled lightly, and Charles narrowed his eyes.

"That is our witness," Makenna said. "My mate and I are leaving now."

She and Charles backed away slowly, not turning before they were lost from view in the trees. Another dark haired stranger began to retreat the same way, then three more darted after them.

I evaluated the vampires that stayed. A few of them appeared just too confused to make the decision. The majority of them seemed only too aware of the direction this confrontation had taken. I guessed that they were giving up a head start in favor of knowing exactly who would be chasing after them.

I was sure Aro saw the same things I did. He turned away, walking back to his guard with a measured pace. He stopped in front of them and addressed them in a clear voice.

"We are outnumbered, dearest ones," He said. "We can expect no outside help."

_As if you would ask._ Takoda said.

"Should we leave this question undecided to save ourselves?"

"No, master," they whispered in unison.

_Can't even think for themselves,_ I thought.

"Is the protection of our world worth perhaps the loss of some of our number?"

"Yes," they breathed. "We are not afraid."

_You should be,_ I thought.

Aro smiled at them before turning to the other ancients

"Brothers," He said somberly, "there is much to consider here."

"Let us counsel," Caius said eagerly.

"Let us counsel," Marcus repeated in an uninterested tone.

Aro turned his back to us again, facing the other ancients. They joined hands to form a black-shrouded triangle. I saw two more of their witnesses leave. Out of the cornor of my eye I saw Bella loossen the hold that Nessie had on her neck.

"You remember what I told you?" She asked Nessie.

I saw tears well in her eyes, but she nodded her answer.

"I love you," She whispered.

"I love you, too," Bella said before she touched Nessie's locket. "More than my own life." She whispered before kissing her forehead.

Jacob whined uneasily. He's not going to like this.

Bella stood on her toes so she could whisper in his ear. It was kind of pointless because we could all hear what she said.

"Wait until they're totally distracted, then run with her." She told him. "Get as far from this place as you possibly can. When you've gone as far as you can on foot, she has what you need to get you in the air."

I saw both him and Edward share a look of complete horor.

"What is she doing?" Tanya asked me.

"Giving them a way out just in case," I said. "I saw her make plans for something but I didn't think it was this."

Nessie reached for Edward and he took her in his arms. They hugged each other tightly.

"This is what you kept from me?" He whispered over her head.

"From Aro," She breathed.

"Alice?" He asked and she nodded.

His face twisted with understanding and pain before he kissed Nessie's forehead. He placed her on Jacob's shoulder and she scrambled agilely into position, grabbing handfuls of Jacob's fur. Jacob whined at Bella, his eye's were full of agony.

"You're the only one we could ever trust her with," She murmured to him. "If you didn't love her so much, I could never bear this. I know you can protect her, Jacob."

He whined again and dropped his head to bump it against her shoulder.

"I know," She whispered. "I love you too Jake. You will always be my best man."

A baseball sized tear rolled down into Jacob's fur.

Edward leaned his head against the same shoulder where he'd placed Renesmee.

"Goodbye Jacob," He said. "My brother...my son."

"Is there no hope, then?" Carlisle whispered. There was no hint of fear in his voice. Just determination and acceptance.

"There is absolutely hope," Bella murmured to him. "I only know my own fate."

I shook my head at her. No one knows their fate, you may have an idea, but no one knows for sure. I would've said that out loud but this was not the time for that.

I looked at Tanya as the others started murmuring 'Good bye's' and 'I love you's'

"If we live through this," Garrett whispered to Kate, "I'll follow you anywhere, woman."

She beamed at him and cuddled into his side.

"Remember what I said." I told Tanya whose eye's were filled with tears that could never fall. "I love you Tatiana Denali. Forever and Always."

She smiled at me then pulled me into a kiss. It was similar to the kiss we had at the tree but this was more controlled. It was still as passionate though. I pulled back and rested my forehead against hers.

"Forever and Always." She repeated.

"Get ready," Bella whispered. "It's starting."

Tanya and I turned and looked forward at the opposing side.

"Chelsea is trying to break our bindings," Edward whispered. "But she's too upset and she can't find them. She can't feel us here..." His eyes cut to Bella. "Are you doing that?"

"I'm all over this." She said with a grim smile.

"Keep going," He said. "You're frustrating her more and she-"

He stopped and lurched forward trying to reach Carlisle.

"Carlisle?" Edward gasped frantically."Are you all right?"

"Yes," He said with a frown. "Why?"

"Jane." Was all he said and my eyes flickered to the little witch who was staring at us in disbelief.

"Incredible," Edward said while looking at Bella in awe.

"Why aren't they waiting for the decision?" Tanya hissed.

"Normal procedure," Edward answered brusquely. "They usually incapacitate those on trial so they can't escape."

"Cheaters!" Me, Emmett, and Embry hissed.

Now the whole guard was looking at us in disbelief while Bella grinned at Jane who narrowed her eyes.

Bella pulled her lips wider, showing her teeth. Jane let out a high-pitched scream which caused several of us to snicker. The guard jumped at the sound. They all did, except for the ancients. Jane crouched getting ready to spring but her brother caught her arm. Alec patted his sister's shoulder soothingly, then tucked her under his arm. He turned his face to us and just stared at our line.

"Are you ok?" Bella choked out after a few moments.

"Yes," Edward whispered.

"Is Alec trying?"She asked and he nodded.

"His gift is slower than Jane's." He said. "It creeps up on you. It will touch us in a few seconds."

Next thing I knew I saw a strange clear haze oozing it's way towards us. It kinda reminded me of a mirage. What I didn't get is why I was seeing it at all. His gift is all in the mind but here I could see it and I wasn't the only one.

Benjamin waved his right hand in circle's at his side, creating a gust of wind before sending it towards the haze. It had no effect what so ever on it. He narrowed his eye at the ground and held his right index finger out. He dragged his finger across horizontally which caused the earth to groan, creating a deep narrow fissure that zigzaged in the middle of our groups.

The three Kings looked up from their council to watch this happen. Aro and Caius were staring wide eyed while Marcus showed no emotion at all. They said nothing as they waited for the haze to hit us. They wind kept howling but it did nothing. Jane smiled at us but then, the haze hit a wall.

The mist curled upward seeking a breach, looking for a weakness. It found none. The fingers of searching haze twisted upward and around, trying to find a way in, and in the process illustrating the astonishing size of the protective screen.

There were gasps on both sides of the gorge that Benjamin made.

"Well done, Bella!" Benjamin cheered in a low voice.

"Way to go Bell's!" Emmett said in the same low voice as Benjamin.

She smiled while Alec narrowed his eyes. His face was etched in doubt.

"I'm going to have to concentrate," Bella whispered to Edward. "When it comes to hand to hand, it's going to be harder to keep the shield around the right people."

"I'll keep them off you." He said and she shook her head.

"No." She told him. "You have to get to Demetri. Zafrina will keep them away from me."

She looked at Zafrina who nodded solemnly.

"No one will touch this young one." She promised Edward.

"I'd go after Jane and Alec myself, but I can do more good here." Bella said.

"Jane is mine!" Kate hissed. "She needs a taste of her own medicine."

"And Alec owes me many lives, but I will settle for his," Vladimir growled. "He is mine!"

"I'll take Caius," Tanya said. I didn't like the idea of her fighting but I wasn't going to tell her what to do.

"Teej," Embry called and I looked at him. "Who do you want?"

"Anyone that's stupid enough to stand in my path." I answered.

More peole started divvying up opponents too, but they were quickly interrupted by Aro who, was staring at the mist that Alec created.

"Before we vote," He began. I shook my head at him. Did he think we were stupid? "Let me remind you," He continued, "Whatever the council's decision, there need be no violence here."

I laughed and Edward chuckled darkly and Aro stared at us sadly.

"It will be a regrettable waste to our kind to lose any of you. But you especially young Edward, and your newborn mate." He told him before glancing at the rest of us. "The Volturi would be glad to welcome many of you into our ranks. Thomas, Benjamin, Zafrina, Kate. There are many choices before you, consider them."

"You mean join or die right?" I snarled. "Do you think we are stupid Aro? Who in their right mind would join someone that is so willing to slaughter an innocent family just because he was closed minded! Like I said before you cannot fool us, now vote!"

There was a moment of silence which Aro decided to break.

"Let us vote," He said.

"The child is an unknown quantity." Caius said. "There is no reason to allow such a risk to exist. It must be destroyed, along with all who protect it."

I snarled in defiance which was echoed by Embry and Jacob.

"I see no immediate danger." Marcus said. "The child is safe enough for now. We can always reevaluate later. Let us be done with this and leave in peace."

After he was finished my eyes glazed over and I saw Alice and the others were not too far from us. They were patiently waiting for the right moment to enter the clearing. Then I saw Alice perk up before she started running.

I blinked after it was done and I looked at Tanya who looked worried and Edward hissed.

"What is it?" She asked and I pulled her hand to my face to place a kiss on it.

"Check mate." Was all I said before I moved forward towards the south west end of the clearing.

"Aro," Edward said with undisguised victory as I planted my feet in the front of our line staring at the spot where Alice will show up.

"Yes, Edward? You have something further...?" He said.

"Perhaps," Edward said pleasantly. "First, if I could clarify one point?"

"Certainly," Aro said in a pleasant tone.

"The danger you foresee from my daughter," He said. "This stems entirely from our inability to guess how she will develop? That is the crux of the matter?"

"Yes, friend Edward," Aro agreed. "If we could be positive...be sure that, as she grows, she will be able to stay concealed from the human world and not endanger the safety of our obscurity..." He trailed off.

"So, if we could only know for sure," Edward suggested. "What she will become...then there would be no need for a council at all?"

"If there was some way to be absolutely sure," Aro agreed his feathery voice slightly shrill. "Then yes, there would be no question to debate."

"And we would part in peace, good friends once again?" Edward asked.

_Oh yes very good friends._ I thought while rolling my eyes.

"Of course, my young friend." Aro said sounding more shrill. "Nothing would please me more."

"Then I do have something more to offer."

"She is absolutely unique." Aro said sounding wary. "Her future can only be guessed at."

"Not unique," I disagreed while not looking away from the spot. "Rare? possibly. But she is not one of a kind."

"Aro, would you ask Jane to stop attacking my wife?" Edward asked courteously. "We are still discussing evidence."

_Idiot,_ I thought while rolling my eyes. _Now she'll know how to get to you._

"Peace, dear ones." Aro said. "Let us hear him out."

"Why don't you join us Alice?" Edward yelled.

"Alice?" I heard Esme whisper in shock.

"Alice!" The others murmured.

"Alice." Aro breathed and I fought the urge to scowl at him.

I could hear the running through the forest, closing the distance as fast as they could. Then Alice dance her way into the clearing. Jasper wasn't that far behind her. They were followed by Senna, then Huilen, and finally Nahuel. Alice jumped over the fissure and leapt into my arms.

"My seeing eye dog!" She exclaimed. I laughed and swung her around as her feet dangled in the air. She giggled like a little girl as I did this.

"My little pixie pire!" I said as I put her back down. "Took you long enough."

"You try and find someone that you can't see!" She wailed. "It's annoying!"

"There, there," I said patting her head. "We all can't be good at everything."

"Hmph!" She huffed before swatting my hand away but she smiled none the less.

"Just what I wanted to see," My mentor and friend drawled. "A mutt with his paws all over my woman."

"And just what I wanted to hear," I said. "A southern hick that can't get over the fact that the south lost the war to them damn yankees."

"We were robbed!" He snapped.

"Keep telling yourself that." I said before I saluted him. "Major Whitlock."

He saluted me as well.

"Private Matthews." He said before he pulled me into a hug.

"It's good to see you Major mood ring."

"You too Lassie."

"Oh hell no!" I said and he laughed.

I looked up to see the members of the guard staring at the fissure then at Bella. They just figured out that she only sheilds mental attacks and not physical ones. I pulled out Alika, twisted the wolf head and pointed it at them as the spike extended.

"Don't even try!" I growled as I stepped away from Jasper. "You won't even get the chance!"

"Alice has been searching for her own witnesses for the past month," Edward said to Aro as I watched the guard. "And she does not come back empty-handed. Alice, why don't you introduce the witnesses you've brought?"

"The time for witnesses has past!" Caius snarled before Alice could speak. "Cast your vote now Aro!"

"Oh shut up you idiot!" I snapped and pointed Alika at him. "You already gave your vote, so keep quiet!"

He glared at me as Aro raised a finger to silence him. Alice stepped forward to introduce the others.

"This is Huilen" She said pointing at her. "And this is her nephew, Nahuel."

Caius's eyes tightened as Alice named the relationship between the newcomers. The Volturi witnesses hissed amongst themselves. The supernatural world was changing, and everyone could feel it.

"Speak Huilen," Aro commanded. "Give us the witness you were brought to bear."

"I am Huilen," She began. Her accent was a little thick but it wasn't distracting or anything. "A century and a half ago, I lived with my people, the Mapuche. My sister was Pire. Our parents named her after the snow on the mountains because of her fair skin. And she was very beautiful, too beautiful. She came to me one day in secret and told me of the angel that found her in the woods, that visited her by night. I warned her." She shook her head mournfully. "As if the bruises on her skin were not warning enough. I knew it was the Libishomen of our legends, but she would not listen. She was bewitched.

"She told me when she was sure her dark angel's child was growing inside her. I didn't try to discourage her from her plan to run away—I knew even our father and mother would agree that the child must be destroyed, Pire with it. I went with her into the deepest parts of the forest. She searched for her demon angel but found nothing. I cared for her, hunted for her when her strength failed. She ate the animals raw, drinking their blood. I needed no more confirmation of what she carried in her womb. I hoped to save her life before I killed the monster."

She paused for a moment before she spoke again'

"But she loved the child inside her. She called him Nahuel, after the jungle cat, when he grew strong and broke her bones, she loved him still.

"I could not save her. The child ripped his way free of her, and she died quickly, begging all the while that I would care for her Nahuel. Her dying wish, and I agreed.

"He bit me, though, when I tried to lift him from her body. I crawled away into the jungle to die. I didn't get far because the pain was too much. But he found me, the newborn child struggled through the underbrush to my side and waited for me. When the pain ended, he was curled against my side, sleeping.

"I cared for him until he was able to hunt for himself. We hunted the villages around our forest, staying to ourselves. We have never come so far from our home, but Nahuel wished to see the child here."

Aro pursed his lips and I glaced at the guard. They were all dumbstruck, same with their witnesses.

"Nahuel, you are one hundred and fifty years old?" Aro questioned.

"Give or take a decade or so," He answered. "We don't keep track."

"And you reached maturity at what age?"

"About seven years after my birth, more or less, I was full grown."

"You have not changed since then?"

"Not that I've noticed." He said with a shrug.

"And your diet?" Aro pressed.

"Mostly blood, but some human food, too. I can survive on either."

"You were able to create an immortal?" Aro gestured to Huilen. His voice sounded tense.

"Yes, but none of the rest can."

There was shocked murmuring through the three groups.

"The rest?" Aro asked with his eyebrows raised.

"My sisters." Nahuel shrugged again. He's very nonchalant about this.

"Perhaps you would tell us the rest of your story, for there seems to be more." Aro said and Nahuel frowned.

"My father came looking for me a few years after my mother's death." His face distorted slightly. "He was pleased to find me." His tone suggested that the feeling was not mutual. "He had two daughters, but no sons. He expected me to join him, as my sisters had. He was surprised I was not alone. My sisters are not venomous, but whether that's due to gender or a random chance...who knows?

"I already had my family with Huilen, and I was not interested," He twisted the word. "In making a change. I see him from time to time. I have a new sister; she reached maturity about ten years back."

"Your father's name?" Caius asked through gritted teeth.

"Joham," Nahuel answered. "He considers himself a scientist. He thinks he's creating a new super-race." He made no attempt to disguise the disgust in his tone and I'm sure I wasn't the only one that made a face at that.

Caius turned to Bella.

"Your daughter, is she venomous?" He demanded harshly. His question caused Nauhel's head to snap to Bella's face. His eyes bored into her as she shook her head at Caius.

Caius looked to Aro for confirmation, but Aro was absorbed in his own thoughts. He pursed his lips and stared at Carlisle, then Edward, and at last his eyes rested on Bella. Caius growled to get his attention.

"We take care of the aberration here, and then follow it south." He urged Aro.

Aro stared into Bella's eyes for a long, tense moment. After he had measured her for a moment, something in his face changed, a faint shift in the set of his mouth and eyes, and I knew he had made his decision.

"Brother," He said softly to Caius. "There appears to be no danger. This is an unusual development, but I see no threat. These half-vampire children are much like us, it appears."

"Is that your vote?" Caius hissed.

"It is."

"And this Joham? This immortal so fond of experimentation?" Caius said scowling.

"Perhaps we should speak with him." Aro agreed.

"Stop Joham if you will," Nahuel said flatly. "But leave my sisters be. They are innocent in all of this."

Aro nodded, his expression solemn. He turned back to his guard with a warm smile.

"Dear ones," He called. "We do not fight today."

The guard nodded in unison and straightened out of their ready positions. The mist dissipated but I was still on edge.

I analyzed their expressions as Aro turned back to address us. His face was as calm as ever but unlike before, there was a strange blankness behind the facade. It looked like his scheming was over. Caius was incensed, but his rage was turned inward now, he was resigned. Marcus looked empty, there really was no other word for it. Whatever light he had in his eyes before was gone.

The guard was impassive and disciplined again. There were no individuals among them, just the whole. They were in formation, ready to depart. The Volturi witnesses were still wary. One after another, they departed scattering into the woods. As their numbers dwindled, the remaining sped up. Soon they were all gone.

Aro held his hands out to us, almost apologetic. Behind him, the larger part of the guard, along with Caius, Marcus, and the silent, mysterious wives, were already drifting quickly away, their formation precise once again. Only the three that seemed to be his personal guardians lingered with him.

"I'm so glad this could be resolved without violence," He said sweetly.

_More like Damn! Why was this resolved without violence!_ Takoda said.

"My friend Carlisle, how pleased I am to call you friend again!" He said turning to him. "I hope there are no hard feelings. I know you understand the strict burden that our duty places on our shoulders."

"Leave in peace Aro," Carlisle said stiffly. "Please remember that we still have our anonymity to protect here, and keep your guard from hunting in this region."

"Of course Carlisle," Aro assured him. "I am sorry to earn your disapproval, my dear friend. Perhaps, in time, you will forgive me."

"Perhaps in time, if you prove a friend to us again."

Aro bowed his head, the picture of remorse, and drifted backward for a moment before he turned around. We watched in silence as the last four Volturi disappeared into the trees.

I twisted the wolf head on Alika and slipped it back into my belt.

"Is it really over?" Bella whispered to Edward.

"Yes, they've given up." He chuckled. "Like all bullies, they're cowards underneath the swagger."

I laughed a little and started walking back to Tanya.

"Seriously, people." Alice laughed "They're not coming back. Everybody can relax now."

There was a beat of silence as I moved closer to Tanya. I smiled at her and she smiled at her.

"Of all the rotten luck!" Stefan said and then it hit.

Cheers erupted from everyone and deafening howls filled the clearing. I picked Tanya up by her waist and held her in the air. She squealed before I brought her down to kiss her again. She wrapped her arms around me, I just got lost in the moment and I didn't care what the others were doing. Hell, there could have been a forest fire and I wouldn't have noticed.

We won and we wouldn't have to deal with those bastards...for now at least.

* * *

><p><strong>Only one chapter left after this. For those that don't know, there will be a sequel! I have so many idea's for it and I'm jotting some of it down and soon I will write it out. But for now, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Let me know what you all thought with the differences and such.<strong>

**Happy reading,**

**-Capt. Hazard.**


	27. Preperation

TANYA POV

After Thomas and I kissed he put me down on the ground. I smiled at him and he smiled back before his eyes glazed over. He was still and I saw Edward staring at him. He stayed this way for a minute before he blinked and shook his head. He whipped his around to look at Jacob.

"Jake," He said and Jacob looked at him. "Send Leah and Seth here in their human forms."

Seth? Leah? What would he want with them?

Jacob gave him a questioning look which looked strange on a wolf.

"It's important." Thomas said.

Jacob gave him a jerky shrug and looked behind us. Thomas turned to Embry who was making out with my sister.

"Ahem," He cleared his throat loudly. They didn't stop so he smacked Embry's shoulder. Embry growled before glaring at Thomas.

"What!" He hissed.

"Our mother's will be at the Cullen's house soon," Thomas said calmly and the color drained from Embry's face. "They want to speak to us."

"W-why?" Embry squeeked and Thomas shrugged.

"They want to meet our other halves and," He paused and frowned slightly. "I think they want to say goodbye."

"Why, where are they going?" Embry demanded.

"They are not going anywhere," Thomas said Embry frowned. "But they think we are."

"What?"

"I'll explain after." Thomas said glancing at the forest where two people emerged. I recognized the male as Seth, one of the younger wolves. The woman I had never met before but I could see the family resemblence between the two.

_So this is Leah,_ I thought. _I need to have a few words with her._

The bounded their way over to us. Seth was beaming at Thomas and Leah smiled a little. She avoided looking at me and Irina. I couldn't tell if it was because we were vampires or if she just wanted to do what Thomas needed them to do and get out of here.

"You guy's were awesome!" Seth exclaimed. "Could you teach me how to do that?"

"Not now Seth," Leah said sounding a little amused before she glanced at Thomas. "Well Matthews, what do you need?"

Out of the cornor of my eye I saw Nahuel perk up at Leah's voice. He scanned the crowd until his eyes landed on her and he froze.

"There's someone you need to meet Clearwater," He threw his arm around her and lead her to Nahuel. She frowned at Thomas before she turned her head to Nahuel and she froze.

Jacob narrowed his eyes at the two before his eyes widened. I glanced at Embry and noticed his eyes were wide as well, same with Seth. The last time I saw that look was when Thomas looked at Embry when he...

Oh.

Oh!

She imprinted on him and from the look on his face, he felt the pull towards her. Thomas pushed her towards Nahuel.

"Leah this is Nahuel," He said. It reminded me of when Garrett and Kate first saw each other and Thomas introduced them. "Nahuel, this Leah Clearwater."

Thomas nudged, no, pushed her slightly and she stumbled face first into Nahuel's chest. He caught and held her there. She looked up at him and blushed a little.

"Sorry," She mumbled.

"It's all right." He told her but he was blushing too. He helped her straighten up and held his hand out to her. She took and he brought her hand up to his face and placed a kiss on it which caused her to giggle. I glanced at Embry and Seth. Embry was staring at her in disbelief and Seth was smiling.

Thomas left them alone and walked back to us. He smiled at me before addressing Embry.

"You alright bro?" He asked Embry who kept blinking.

"Yeah," He said turning to Thomas. "I just never thought I would live to see the day that Leah Clearwater would blush and giggle or act like a girl at all."

Leah's head whipped around and she glared at him. He dark brown eyes were now blue and she stomped her way over him, probably to slap him, but Seth beat her to it. He smacked the back of Embry's head and glared at him with bright yellow eyes.

"Leave her alone," He growled. All politeness that was in his face was replaced with anger. "She has enough to deal with as it is, she doesn't need you adding anymore."

"Seth," Thomas said. "I'm sure he was joking. Why don't you go meet your future brother in law and give him a warm welcome."

I noticed Leah and Nahuel blush even more. Seth calmed down and headed towards the blushing couple and spoke to Nahuel.

"Hey," He said holding his hand out. "I'm Seth, Leah's brother."

Thomas grabbed my hand and looked at Embry and Irina.

"We need to get ready." He said inclining his head towards the East. "Let's go."

They nodded and Thomas grabbed my hand. I looked up to see him smiling. We started walking before Kate interrupted.

"And where do you think you are going?" She asked. I turned to her and she had her hands on her hips with an eyebrow raised. Garrett was stand close to her.

"To meet my..." I started but I couldn't find the right word to say.

"Future mother in law?" Embry offered and I shrugged.

"I guess so."

"We're going to head them off before they reach the house." Thomas said.

"Why?" She asked.

"Because what they need to tell us should be discussed in private. And no offense," He said. "But I don't want you or Emmett anywhere near my mother."

"Why not!" They cried in indignation. I saw Emmett frowning at him and so was Kate. Rosalie and Garrett were trying hard not laugh at their mate's faces.

"Because you two would find a way to embarrass me or worse, help my mom get back in the game."

"Why would she need help?" Kate demanded. "Is she ugly or something?"

"Kate!" Irina and I yelled. I knew the reason was because her husband had died in a car accident and that she wasn't really interested in anyone. Before I could tell her why, Thomas spoke.

"Oh please," He said rolling his eyes. "She's better looking than you, batty. Actually, Gene Simmons _without_ his KISS make up is better looking than you."

"Excuse me!" She said sounding shrill as several people laughed. "What did you say?"

"You heard me Katerina." Thomas responded with a smirk.

"Wait," Emmett said. "If you don't want to be embarrassed in front of your mom, are you planning on talking to them seperately? I mean, wouldn't he have some on information that he could use against you?" He pointed at Embry and Thomas snorted.

"Even though I'm sure he's lost many brain cells due to the countless blows he's recieved to the head," Thomas said and Embry made a face at him. "I know he's not an idiot. Besides," He paused and narrowed his eyes at Embry. "If he even thinks about saying anything, I'll tell his mom about his...extra ciricular activities."

Embry started turning green and Irina glared at him.

"Do I want to know?" She asked without taking her eyes off of Embry.

"No," Thomas said shaking his head. "And I'm not saying anything right now. Anyway," He turned to the others. "We'll see you later."

He grabbed my hand and we started running East. Irina and Embry followed.

"Ok, start talking." Embry said as soon as we got out of earshot of the others.

"It seems your mother has known about us all along," Thomas said and Embry looked shocked. "She knows what we are and what we can do, well apart from this," He gestured to the speed we were going at. "But she knows enough."

"How?" He demanded.

"She'll probably explain it better than I can."

We kept running with Thomas slightly leading all of us. We were at the back of the Cullen mansion no more than 10 minutes later when I heard a car drive up the damp path.

"My grandma is driving," Thomas murmured. "That's her station wagon."

We all shuffled nervously to the front. I was nervous because I was about to meet, as Embry put it, my future mother in law. I couldn't help but think that there was a chance that she wouldn't approve of me.

"My mom will love you." Thomas said and I looked up at him.

"What did you say?" I asked. What brought this on?

"I said my mom will love you," He told me with a smile. "And don't you dare think otherwise."

How did he know what I was thinking?

"You need to work on your poker face when it comes to things like this." He said as if he read my mind. "You can be very easy to read."

I blinked several times before nodding my head. Just then, a mint green station wagon pulled into the drive way. There were three women in the car. The driver had some gray hair and the cornor of her eyes crinkled, like she smiled alot. The women in the passenger seat was obviously Thomas's mother. She had the same wavy hair and green eyes. The women in the back seat had similar features to Embry but her eyes were a lighter shade of brown and Embry's were dark brown almost black.

The driver shut off the car and they all got out. Thomas squeezed my hand before he went to address his mother.

"Hey ma." He said and she smiled at him. I notice Embry do the same thing but I tuned them out to give them privacy. Thomas's mother pulled him into a hug before smacking him in the back of the head, hard. She winced and shook her hand while Thomas frowned at her.

"What was that for?" He asked and she narrowed her eyes.

"That, was for letting someone bite you!" She snapped. "What the hell were you thinking?"

Thomas's grandmother went to stand next to her and she gave Thomas a reproachful look. He sputtered for a few moments trying to think of an explanation. His mother waved off his explanation off before looking at me. She smiled before walking towards me.

"So you must be Tanya." She said holding her hand out before she pulled it back. "Oh what am I doing, come here!"

She pulled me into a hug. She shivered from my cold temprature but she held on as I hugged her back. She was very warm, not as warm as Thomas but warm enough and she a bit of perfume on. She pulled away and smiled even more.

"It's nice to finally meet you," She said. "And I must say you are gorgeous."

If I could, I would have blushed at the compliment. I had been told that before by many potential suitors but this was different. This was my mate's mother for crying out loud!

"Thank you." I said quietly. "It's nice to meet you too Mrs. Matthews."

"Please call me Sharon or mom, whichever is easier." She said with another smile.

"Ok...mom." I said with a smile. Out of the cornor of my eye I saw Embry's mother hug Irina but she was slightly reluctant. Thomas walked over to us with his Grandma right next to him.

"Er Tanya, this is my grandma, Katherine," He said sounding a little nervous. "Grandma, this is Tanya Denali, my soulmate."

She looked me up and down before she smiled slightly and came over to hug me. I got a similar feeling like I did from Sharon but Katherine was a little tense.

"Hello dear." She said and I saw Thomas relax a little. "It's nice to meet you."

"Like wise." I said as she pulled away.

"So," Thomas said as he came to stand next to me and he grabbed my hand. "What did you want to talk about?"

He already knew about some things but I guess he wanted to give her the chance to explain instead of doing it for her.

"Well," Sharon began as the others walked over to us. "We," She gestured to Embry's mother, herself, and Katherine. "Wanted to talk about your," She pointed to him and Embry. "Potential living arrangements."

"You mean whether we'll be staying in Washington or not?" Thomas asked and his mother nodded.

"I have an idea of what you'll decide," She told him. "But I think we should discuss this as a group. Is there anywhere we can talk."

"We can use Carlisle's study," Thomas said. "He won't mind but I'll call him first just to let him know."

"I got it," Irina said pulling her phone out of her pocket. "We should have asked before we left."

"I know," Thomas sighed as Irina dialed Carlisle's number. "I just wanted to meet up with my family and Mrs. Call before-"

"Tiffany," Embry's mother interrupted. "Please call me Tiffany."

"Ok Tiffany," Thomas said with a smile at the same time Irina started talking to Carlisle but I wasn't listening. "I just wanted to get here so you wouldn't have to wait."

Irina snapped her phone shut and smiled at us. "We're good." She said.

"This way." Thomas said and we headed into the house.

T.J. POV

We all got ourselves settled in the study after we trudged up the stairs. My mom, my grandma, and Embry's mom sat on the same couch. Embry, me, and the girls settled for the chairs. There was nothing but silence so I spoke up.

"Mom, grandma," I began and they looked at me. "I think it would be best if I went to live with Tanya." I said and they didn't look surprised. "Where she goes, I'll go and I'm not sure if the Elders would allow-"

I stopped and glanced at Embry's mom. I wasn't paying attention to their earlier conversation because I was focused on my family meeting Tanya.

"How much does she know?" I whispered to Embry while turning to him.

"Everything." He whispered back.

"Even," I glanced at Irina then back to him.

"She knows their vampires," He said with a nod. "I explained that they're different and she doesn't mind it so much."

I turned back to the others.

"I don't know if the Elders would allow her to stay here," I continued. "So I think it would make more sense if I just left with her."

"The path of least resistance." My mother murmured before she sighed. "I had a feeling that's what you were going to choose."

"Mom," I said. "I'm not going to leave right this second but I just have a funny feeling that almost everyone would be comfortable."

"I know," She sighed. "We both do." My grandma nodded. "We knew that one day you would leave home but still to actually be faced with it..."

"It's a different thing altogether." I said after she trailed. They both nodded and I sighed.

"But like you said, you're not leaving right now." My mom said and my grandma nodded.

"Yeah," I said. "I don't know when but I will leave and I'll try to visit as often as I can. But I'll still have pack duties and stuff so you might not see me that much when I am here." I glanced at Embry. "You, on the other hand, might be a problem."

"Why?" He asked frowning.

"You still have school." I told him and he made a face. "I'm sure Carlisle wouldn't mind having Irina here, and I'm sure he wouldn't mind you visiting, but you have to finish school before you can join us up north."

"To hell with school!" He growled. "I can get my GED."

"Your mother is in the room dumbass," I whispered harshly. "Try not to seem so eager to leave!"

He shot a glance toward his mother and he sighed.

"Fine." He grumbled. "But whose going to have your back when your up in Alaska?" He asked and I raised an eyebrow.

"You make it sound like I'll be alone." I said and he shrugged.

"In a sense you will." He said. "You'll be the only wolf in the area."

I frowned. I didn't think of that, but then a thought hit me. I turned to Tanya.

"Would you be opposed to having three guests?" I asked and she frowned.

"No." She said. "Why do you ask?"

"I was thinking of inviting Leah, Nahuel, and his aunt." I said. "I'm sure Leah want's to get away for awhile but I don't think it would be in her best interest for her to go back with him to South America."

"Because of his father?" She asked and I nodded. "We'll have to talk to them about this but we'll do that later."

I nodded and turned back to our guests.

"Is there anything that we need to talk about?" I asked and they shook their heads. "How about we walk you back to the car?" I asked and they nodded. We all stood up and I exchanged a glance with Embry. _We'll follow them._ I mouthed to him. He nodded once as we headed outside.

"Don't even think about it boys." My mom said as we headed down the stairs. "We'll be fine."

"What were thay thinking of doing before you said something?" My grandma asked before I could protest.

"They wanted to follow us as we drove back." She answered.

"We would feel better if we did." I told them. "Who knows what could happen."

My mother stopped walking, turned around and raised an eyebrow at me.

"Are you expecting something to happen?" She asked.

"No," I said. "But mom our...unwanted arrivals just left. If any of them were to double back..."

She sighed as I trailed off.

"Fine," She said. "But you know that you can't bring the girls over the line."

"I know." I said grimly and I glanced at Tanya who frowned but said nothing. "But mom, I don't want them anywhere near you, any of you."

"What would you do if they tried?" Mrs Call, I mean Tiffany asked.

"I'd rather not say." I told her. "I would hate to give you nightmares."

"You didn't need to say that." Embry grumbled.

"It's fine." She said. "I would have asked anyway."

We headed down the stairs without saying another word. We headed outside and they headed into the car. I turned to Tanya, cupped her face, and kissed her forehead.

"I would do more," I murmured. "But I'll save that for later."

"That's ok," She said before she whispered. "But I hope we can do more later anyway."

"I plan on it." I said grinning before I turned to Embry who was looking impatient.

"Can we go now?" He demanded and I frowned at him as my grandma started the car.

"What crawled up your ass?" I said and he shrugged slightly.

"The sooner we leave and help them," He said. "The sooner we can get back."

I sighed and nodded before looking over at my grandmother and nodding to her as well. She stepped on the gas and started heading down the path. I turned to smile at Tanya one last time before I flashed in the direction of where my mom was going. Embry was right in step with me.

"You don't really think they'll double back do you?"

"It wouldn't hurt to be cautious."

"If you think they might come back," He began. "Then why did we leave the girls?"

"You heard my mom, we couldn't bring them," I said. "And what would happen if we crossed the younger wolves, I don't like the idea of fighting our brothers and sisters."

He made a face.

"I didn't think of that," He said as we countinued running. "But wouldn't Sam take them with him just in case he wanted to make sure that they actually left."

"No," I said. "He'd send them home with Paul and take Jared with him."

"Why Paul?" He asked. "He's the last person I'd send with them."

"Well it's better than taking him with them," I said dryly. "Who knows what would happen if he caught up with them."

He made a face again but he said nothing. A vision of the others heading back to the house flashed in front of my eyes.

"The girls will be fine," I told him. "The others will be there any moment."

He nodded and we just continued running.

It didn't take to long for everyone to get back to their respective homes. Embry's house wasn't that far from mine, maybe 20 minutes away if you drove but you could get there in less than a minute if you ran. Embry said he would stay with his mom until he was sure that the wolves were back home. I said I would do the same thing.

"We'll be fine," My mother said exasperated. "You don't need to guard us you know."

"I'll relax more when the others get here." I told her and she sighed as did my grandma.

I sat down on the couch and they sat in the other chairs. There was silence. I didn't know what we could possibly talk about.

"When do you want to leave?" My grandma asked softly. I shrugged a little.

"Maybe after my birthday?" I asked hesitantly. "It could take some time to convince Leah and the others to join us and I would like to celebrate my birthday with the two of you."

They both smiled. My mom would have said something but the phone rang. She walked over and picked it up.

"Hello?" She said and I paled when I heard the voice on the other end.

_Is this Sharon Matthews?_ Alice chirped excitedly.

"This is she," My mom responded. "Whom may I ask is calling?"

_This is Alice Cullen. I'm friends with your son._

"Oh yes I've heard so much about you," My mom said. It was true, I told her some stuff like the fact that she was gifted but not everything. "How are you dear?"

_I'm doing well. I was wondering if I could speak to your son?_

I shook my head at my mother as she looked at me. I even waved my arms frantically and mouthed the word _no, _over and over.

_Oh stop doing that Thomas._ Alice said sharply on the other line. _This is important._

I sighed and stood up and headed over to my mother. She handed me the phone.

"Yes, Alice?" I asked after I placed the phone to my ear. "What is it you require?"

_Why are you speaking like that? Oh never mind, I wanted to talk to you about your party that-_

"No." I said cutting her off. I wasn't opposed to having a party, we could use one to celebrate our victory. I just didn't want one for me.

_Excuse me?_ She demanded.

"You heard me," I told her. " I said no."

Now, if I was standing in front of her, she would be glaring at me until I backed down. However, just because I wasn't there doesn't mean she wouldn't try another tactic.

_Don't you love me?_ She asked. I could practically hear the pout in her voice. I vaguely heard someone snickering in the background.

"Love is a very strong word pixie pire," I said and I could tell that she was pouting some more. "And I'm sure Jasper would not appreciate me saying it."

_No I wouldn't._ I heard him murmur but Alice must have glared at him because he didn't say anymore.

"I'm sure Tanya is in the same boat."

_She's not,_ Alice told me and I frowned slightly. _But she's curious as to why I would throw you a party._ _Didn't you tell her your birthday was coming up?_

"Er..." Was all I could say. The truth was, I didn't. I didn't want her to buy anything for me because I thought it wasn't necessary. I didn't want her to feel obligated to do so either.

_We'll talk about this later._ I heard Tanya hiss and I grimaced.

_Somebody's in trouble._ I heard Kate say in a sing song sort of way. I fought the urge to snap at her.

_So explain to me why we can't have a party for you?_

To be honest it would have been fun to have a party with my friends and soon to be extended family. But I had to deal with moving away and sorting out alot of stuff. If Alice wanted a party she would...I grinned as a thought occured to me.

"You know Alice," I began. "I'm not the only one with a birthday this month."

She squealed so loudly that I had to hold the phone away from me.

_Jacob! Why didn't you say your birthday was coming up?_

_Oh no you don't. Leave me out of this Alice!_ He said.

_Nope! Now we can have two parties in one!_

"Wait!" I said. "Alice I didn't give you this information so you can have a double birthday party."

_You are so dead when I see you Thomas!_ Jacob yelled and I heard several people laugh.

_Well we're having one now and it will be perfect!_ She exclaimed and I groaned.

"Please Alice?" I begged. "Don't do anything for me."

_Yes Please?_ Jacob begged on that end.

_Nope! It's happening boys, deal with it. _She said.

_Why did you drag me into this Teej?_ Jacob groaned.

"Because fearless leader," I murmured. "If I'm going down, I'm dragging you down with me."

_Aw don't be like that._ Alice cooed. _I'm not going to torture you two or anything. _

I rolled my eyes.

"Sure your not." I said sarcastically.

_I'm not!_

"Maybe, maybe not." I said. "But we both know this is just to quell your shopping addiction and your need to throw parties."

_Hey!_ She said and I heard alot of people laughing. _I_ _have every right to do this! Do you know how much shopping I've missed out on? I need to catch up!_

This caused even more laughter on her end and I snorted.

"Please Alice."

_No._

"Please?"

_No._

I would have kept going but a vision of the other wolves heading here flashed through my eyes.

"I have to go Alice." I said. "I'll call you later because this discussion is not over."

_Yes it is._

"No it's not."

_Whatever you say._

I surpressed a growl of irritation.

"Good bye." I said before hanging up. I turned to my mom and grandma who were looking curiously at me.

"It seems that Alice wants to throw a party for me." I said with a sigh. "And now it's also a party for Jacob."

"How did that happen?" My grandma asked.

"Me getting a party or Jacob being added to it?"

"Both."

"Well she wanted to throw one for me but I didn't want one." I explained. "I tried to divert the attention from me to someone else and it ended up backfiring."

"You tried to get her to plan a party for Jacob." My mom said and I nodded. "Then she decided to make it for the both of you." I nodded and again and she laughed. "I like this girl. So when's the party?"

I shrugged.

"Don't know." I said. "I hung up before I could ask."

"Why?"

"The wolves are back." I said. "I have to go speak to Jacob and I have to bring Embry with me."

"Won't he be mad at you?" My grandma asked.

"Yeah but we'll work it out."

I walked over to to my mom and hugged her.

"I'll call to let you know the details." I said before kissing her cheek. I walked to my grandma and did the same thing. Just before I opened the door I turned back to them.

"Promise me you won't buy anything." I told them. "I'll probably get gifts but I don't want any from you. If anything I'll just want to spend to with the both of you before I go."

"That's sweet honey." My mom said. "We're still getting you gifts though," She continued and my grandma nodded. "We haven't gotten you anything since you were 8-"

"Because I asked you not to get me anything." I pointed out by cutting her off.

"I know that," She said gently. "But this is different. You found your soulmate and one day she'll be your wife. You are planning to ask her to marry you right?" She asked raising an eyebrow.

"Of course." I said a little too quickly. "I just need to find a ring and the right time to propose."

"Take mine." My mom said. She slipped her hand into her purse and pulled out a small black box. I frowned at her as she held it out to me.

"I'm not taking that." I said shaking my head.

"Yes you are." She said firmly and when I tried to protest she continued. "Do not argue with me Thomas, take the damn ring. I want you to have it. I won't be able to give many gifts but I will give you whatever I can."

She paused and looked at me grandma who nodded in agreement.

"You have to understand," She went on. "Even though I sometimes think of you as my little baby, you have become a fine young man. I'm so proud of you and I'm sure your father would be too." She started blinking back tears and so did my grandma. "You have more than earned what I'm giving you and what I plan to give you. So please honey, take it and whatever your grandmother and I get you. No one deserves it more than you."

She held out the box again and nodded encouragingly. I stepped forward and grabbed it. I put it into my pocket and pulled my mom into a hug.

"Thank you." I said blinking back tears. "Thank you."

She patted my back.

"Like I said, you deserve it." She told me. I pulled away and she smiled at me. I turned to my grandma and hugged her again.

"I won't fight you two on giving me presents," I said as I pulled away. "That battle was lost before it even began but please don't go to too much trouble."

They both sighed and nodded.

"I have to go get Embry," I told them as I headed back to the door. "He'll want to come with me so he can see Irina while I talk to Tanya. We have much to discuss."

They both nodded and said their good byes. After I colsed the door, I headed in the direction of Embry's house to get him and head back to the Cullen's.

**}}}}THE SPIRIT WORLD{{{{**

TAKODA POV

Lord T'ist'ilal and I were standing on the mountain ridge waiting for the other lords and ladies to arrive.

'I have told you many times Takoda to just call me T'ist'ilal." He said with a sigh. 'There is no need to call me lord.'

'I need to call everyone else lord or lady.' I pointed out. 'That goes for you as well.' He sighed again but said nothing.

Next thing I knew, water started gathering past the ridge right over the hundred foot drop. It kept growing until it looked like a small patch of a vast ocean was right next to us. There was a flash of bluish-green light and that's when I knew Lord Josiah had arrive. He is the Lord of the Ocean and protector of the seven seas. His form was a whale. He was so big that if you were to put four fully grown sperm whales together, you wouldn't even cover half of him. He and Lord T'ist'ilal were much a like despite the difference in their domains. They were both very calm and placid but you did not want to anger them. The other members of the council showed me what happened when they turned angry or turbulent. Trust me, it was not pretty.

'Lord Josiah.' I said bowing and he bobbed his head.

**'Hello Takoda.'** He said in his booming voice that made the water he was in vibrate and the ground I was on quake.

I could hear the thudding of large paws and hooves. There were red and gold blurs in the forest and I knew that Lord Malachi and Lady Ameena were close by. Lord Malachi is the Lord of Predators and protector of the hunt. His form is a Fox that is the size of a pony. Don't let that fool you though, he's not as cute and cuddly as a pony, he's actually very cold and distant. He thinks that animals should live off instinct and we shouldn't have these human thoughts and feelings plague our minds. He doesn't like the idea of living like this or these meetings but he came out of tribal obligation. Tribal obligation meant that he would honor the code and oath that his father had taken even if he didn't like it.

Lady Ameena is the exact opposite of him. She's very warm and inviting. She is Lady of Nature and protector of the forest. Her form is a Doe that is somewhere between me and Lord Malachi in size. All the times I've been here she would always ask for my opinion despite the fact that I'm not a Lord.

They both trotted into view and I bowed to them.

'Lord Malachi, Lady Ameena.' I said.

'Takoda.' Lord Malachi said curtly.

_'Hello Takoda.'_ Lady Ameena said softly. _'How are you doing today?'_

'I am fine my lady.' I told her honestly and she nodded.

'Where is Phoebe and Winnifred?' Lord Malachi asked ignoring our exchange.

'They shall be here soon.' Lord T'ist'ilal replied. 'I can feel their presence.'

Lady Phoebe and Lady Winnifred were the last two members of the council. They protected things that you wouldn't really expect them to given what you heard and what animal they are. Lady Phoebe is a Restless Flycatcher that is the size of a large Eagle. She is the Lady of Communication and protector of travellers and messengers. Lady Winnifred is a Racoon the size of a Labador Retriever. She is the Lady of Mischief and protector of pranksters and thieves.

I could could see a greyish blur scamper towards us and I could hear wings flapping above us. Not to long after, Lady Phoebe perched herself on a near by branch and Lady Winnifred bounded her way towards me.

'Takoda!' She exclaimed as she leapt towards me and wrapped herself around my leg. 'How are you my friend?'

She was the most excitable out of all the council members. She told me to call her Winnifred instead of Lady but I told her it was procedure. When she told me that I should screw procedure and just act natural, to say I was shocked would be an understatement.

'Why are you acting as if you haven't seen him in ages?' Lord Malachi asked. 'You just saw him at the last meeting which was a week ago.'

'Hush you,' She snapped at him as she let go of me. 'No one asked for your opinion.'

To avoide conflict, I addressed the new arrivals.

'Lady Phoebe, Lady Winnifred.' I said bowing to each of them.

"Hello Takoda." Lady Phoebe said.

'What did I tell you about calling me that?' Lady Winnifred demanded while standing up and placing her paws on her sides. She kinda reminded me of Mrs. Matthews when she talked with T.J. 'I've told you time and time again to call me Winnifred. I'm not the only one here who would rather you call us by name right T'ist'ilal?'

She looked over at him and he nodded. I sighed.

'We have more pressing matters to discuss.' Lord Malachi said. 'Finish this ridiculous conversation later.'

'Do not tell me what to do Malachi!" Lady Winnifred yelled.

'The both of you will calm down, now.' Lord T'ist'ilal ordered. 'Like Malachi said we have other things to discuss. Although I wish you went about that differently.'

'My apologies,' Lord Malachi murmured. 'I am rather eager to join the hunt and I would like to get through this as quickly as possible.'

'I understand.' Lord T'ist'ilal said. 'So I will try to make this quick.'

I sat back on my haunches and we all waited patiently for him to begin.

'As I have mentioned before,' He began. 'Many things are stirring. Old powers are awakening and soon they will be a factor in lives of our young friends.'

'And just what could they possibly be?' Lord Malachi asked.

Lord Josiah answered for Lord T'ist'ilal instead. Well, sort of. He lifted his tail out of the water and slammed it down causing a deafening crash. Water went flying into different directions until it all clumped together and flew to the center of our group. It shifted and contorted until it became square like and stood there and with a single drop being spilled. Lord T'ist'ilal flapped his wings and the water started glowing until an image appeared.

The image in the water showed a girl in a library. She had a slight tan, long black hair that looked brown in certain lighting, with a soft face and pair of glasses. I recognized her as Angela Webber, one of Bella's friends from school. She kept rubbing her temples like she was having a migraine. She looked down at the book and sighed.

"Why is this so difficult?" She murmured. "Ugh this is so frustrating!"

She slammed her hands on the table and the bookshelves fell over, hitting each other like a line of dominoes. Several people yelped and jumped out of the way to avoid getting hurt. After everything stopped, Angela looked very pale and she pursed her lips. She slowly gathered her things and left while the others looked dumbfounded.

The image disapeared and the water was clear again.

"So she is gifted?" Lady Phoebe asked.

**'It is so much more than that sister.' **Lord Josiah mumured. **'She a descendant of mages which is another term for people who practice magic, like wizards and witches.'**

Before I could stop myself, I busted out laughing.

'If I may ask, what is so funny my friend?' Lady Winnifred said with wide, eager eyes.

'I was just thinking back to what Bella told Edward.; I said. 'T.J. had a vision of them having a discussion about her friendship with Jacob. She said that she didn't care if one of them was a vampire and the other was a wolf. She also said she wouldn't care if Angela was a witch and it turns out she is!'

She giggled and the others look amused.

_'What else is there?'_ Lady Ameena asked. Lord T'ist'ilal flapped his wings again and the water glowed before another image appeared. This time it had a group of young men and women. There were at least 10 of them. They looked like members of the pack but they didn't look like they were part of our tribe.

'They are not.' Lord T'ist'ilal murmured. 'Some of them have alot of native blood in their veins, but Quileute is not among them.'

No one said anything as one of the boys started shaking before he shifted into a wolf the size of a horse. He was later joined by the others before they started running into the forest. My mouth fell open as the council members eyes widened. Well except for Lord T'ist'ilal and Lord Josiah.

'They're wolves!' Lady Winnifred cried. 'But the two packs here were supposed to be the only ones, how is this possible?'

'I agree with Winnifred.' Lord Malachi said. 'Other tribes have been known to have the ability to change their forms, but the last time there was another pack of wolves, it did not end well.'

The council members shivered at the memory and something tells that I really didn't want to find out.

'No you don't my friend.' Lady Winnifred murmured. 'It was terrible. Our tribe went to war with a rival pack and the body count was high.' She glanced at Lord T'ist'ilal. 'Will it be like the last encounter?'

'Unfortunately, dear sister, it is highly probable that it will be.' He said and they all sighed. 'From what I have gathered, this group doesn't fight vampires for the sake of protecting life, they hunt them down and kill them for fun. They even manage to pick fights with mere mortals!' His voice shook with so much anger that the sky darkened and thunder boomed. 'Their own mortality may be delayed but that does give them the right to abuse their powers!'

Lightning struck a nearby tree which broke in half and caught fire. Lord Josiah splashed some water and the fire was put out. Lady Ameena stomped her left hoof and the tree righted itself. She turned to frown at Lord T'ist'ilal.

_'Brother,'_ She began._ 'I understand that this upsets you but please calm down, you could bring down several aircrafts full of mortals if you continue.'_

He took in a few deep breaths before he spoke again.

'My apologies.' He said. 'I did not mean to lose my temper.'

_'Think nothing of it._' She said gently. _'As I said, I understand. Frankly, I am upset as well.'_

"We all are." Lady Phoebe said. Every one of us nodded in agreement.

'But how could this group be a bother to us?' Lady Winnifred asked. 'Surely they don't know about the two packs here.'

She directed that last part to Lady Phoebe who seemed to be concentrating very hard on something.

"A few of my Lieutenant's have informed me of several vampires passing through Kansas." She said. "They are heading in the direction of this group. I must stress that this is purely coincidental, they are not openly searching for these wolves. Actually, these nomadic vampires were just here during that pathetic excuse of a trial."

'Will they give away the packs location? Lord Malachi demanded.

"It is possible," She said. "But let us hope that it doesn't come to that."

We all felt uneasy.

'There is more.' Lord T'ist'ilal said. Before we could say anything, he flapped his wings again.

Images of another group of 7 shape shifters flashed before our eyes but they weren't wolves, they were snakes. Rattle snakes to be exact. They were the size of Anaconda's. They looked nice enough and they were allies with vampires, three were even mated to vampires. They didn't look like they were apart of any specific native tribe but maybe they had a bit of native blood. Or they were a new entity altogether.

'How did we not know of them?' Lord Malachi asked. He glanced at the older lords with narrowed eyes. 'You knew.' He accused.

**'We just found out.'** Lord Josiah boomed. **'We coulld feel a force calling but blocking us. It only lifted recently and revealed this new group.'**

"What do you mean you were blocked and called?" Lady Phoebe asked. "And why weren't we told about this?"

'I thought I was the only one.' Lord T'ist'ilal said. 'Josaiah recently informed me that he felt it too. We didn't know what to make of it and before we could inform the rest of you, we were sent those images.'

'Sent?' Lady Winnifred asked frowning. 'Sent by whom?'

'We don't know.' They said at the same time.

**'Tell me,**' Lord Josiah murmured. **'Have any of you felt anything at all?'**

They all shook their heads and the water shifted again. We all looked confused because no one did anything to it. The image on the other side was of a rattle snake that was at least 60 feet long. It's black eyes were cold and calculating. It's skin was brown with a hint of green.

~Hello~ It said. ~My name is Lord Ezekiel, Lord of Medicine, protector of healers. Did all of you get my message?~

'Your message?" Lord Malachi asked. 'You were the one that blocked my brothers and revealed this group? And how can you be a Lord, I've never heard of you.'

The snake chuckled slightly.

~My dear boy~ He murmured. ~I am older than those in attendance so of course you wouldn't have heard of me. And yes, I am the one who blocked _our_ brothers~

"But you can't be a lord," Lady Phoebe said. "That would make the council uneven."

~You misunderstand~ He said. ~Just because I am a lord does not mean I am a council member. Before most of you were born, I gave up my seat to look after this new group of shifters. I have been around since before any of you were born~ He glanced at Lord Josiah and Lord T'ist'ilal. ~Or were to young to remember what those days were like~

None of the council members said anything. Finally, after a few minutes, Lady Winnifred spoke.

'I can only speak for myself," She began. 'But I'm not inclined to believe you just yet. However, I would like to hear more.'

The others nodded their agreement. He nodded as well and continued his explanation. He said that the council was made up of 4 men and two women before it became what we see today. He stepped down and that's when it became 3 and 3 instead of 4 and 2. He explained that a young man with magical powers had discovered a way to change his form while traveling the world. His findings proved most fruitful when he found a group in Egypt that could change themselves into giant Crocodiles.

When asked what this had to do with the Quileute, he said that this man was one of the members of the tribe many generations before they came to La Push. He was very ambitious and was very gifted as well. He wanted to do more and learn more but his father tried to forbid him. He left not too long after and learned alot of magic. He passed on the knowledge to his children and one of them, his son named Abraham, chose the form of a snake. He cast a spell that made sure all his children could change into this form only.

'Did your choosing to watch over them have anything to do with the form they have taken?' Lord Malachi asked.

~In a sense~ He said. ~Unlike his siblings, Abraham was smart enough to know that being able to change into what ever you wish could have many disasterous results. The main one being losing who you were as a person. By choosing one form, you could maintain who you were while being able to change. The form they have is, as the young ones would say, icing on the cake~

I snorted softly and the others looked bemused.

"I guess the next question we should ask , is why are you telling us this?" Lady Phoebe asked.

~I believe it's time for all of them to meet~ He said. ~I also believe, that bringing these two groups together would strengthen the tribe. So much could be learned and so much could be taught. This is not some ploy for me to reclaim my seat on the coucil, I can assure you of that. I willingly left and have no desire to return. Besides, it would, as you pointed out earlier my dear, make the counil uneven~

The council went silent.

_'Let's put it to a vote.'_ Lady Ameena sugested. The others nodded. _'All those in favor say aye.'_

'Aye.' They said though Lord Malachi seemed slightly reluctant.

'It may be good,' Lord T'ist'ilal murmured. 'To have this union, but I would like to discuss an option that I think would work for our friends here in Washington.'

'We are all ears brother.' Lady Winnifred said.

~I will leave you to council~ Lord Ezekiel said.

'You may stay.' Lord T'ist'ilal said. 'You may not be a council member but if we are to unite our groups, we must get to know each other. And it would be nice to have input from someone from a former council member.'

Lord Ezekiel hesitated but nodded.

'Before I begin, I want your word that you will allow me to tell you what I have in mind before you make a comment.' He said. 'All of you.'

"Of course." Lady Phoebe said. "We will listen."

The others nodded and he told them his idea. After he was finished, the council members just blinked at him.

'You are insane.' Lord Malachi whispered.

**'Brother,'** Lord Josiah said. **'This is madness.'**

If the situation wasn't serious, and if I wasn't afraid of being killed I would have said, 'Madness? This. Is. Sparta!' but I kept my mouth shut.

_'Brother, please tell me you are joking._' Lady Ameena said in a tone that suggested she was concerned for Lord T'ist'ilal's mental health.

'Do I look to be in a gaming mood?' He said sounding irritated. 'And do not call my sanity into question, I am perfectly fine.'

'Then enlighten us as to how you came up with such a ludicrous idea.' Lord Malachi snarled. 'The great spirit knows I could use a good laugh.'

"Truly brother, did you think this through?" Lady Phoebe asked.

'I know it is a gamble-'

'-A gamble? Try a disaster in the making-'

'-But it could prove to be useful.' He continued as if he was not interrupted.

_'It _could_ prove to be useful, not _would_.'_ Lady Ameena said. _'This could go horribly wrong.'_

'It _could_ go horribly wrong, not _would_.' He responded in a slight mocking tone. He glanced at Lady Winnifred. 'You have been very quiet dear sister, do you not wish to comment?'

'I have been...thinking about things.' She said slowly in a serious tone that she rarely used. 'There are many factors in this that are out of our control. Not to mention that what you're suggesting could not only be a danger to the cubs, but the world at large.'

She paused and closed her eyes before she glanced back at him.

'It is a gamble,' She agreed. 'But I think we should at least consider it.'

'What!' The other council members beside Lord Josiah said.

'Winnifred,' Lord Malachi said in disbelief. 'You can't be serious.'

'I am very serious Malachi.' She said shortly, eyes blazing. 'I may be the Lady of Mischief, but that does not mean that I cannot be serious.'

When they said nothing she turned to Lord Josiah and Lord Ezekiel.

'How do you two feel about my recent admission?' She asked them.

**'I am still not fond of this idea.'** Lord Josiah admitted. **'But before I dismiss it altogether, I am curious as to how you plan to accomplish this. Lord Ezekiel?'**

Lord Ezekiel did not say anything for a moment. I thought he wouldn't say anything at all, but when he did, it was very quiet. So quiet, that I almost had to strain myself to listen even though I had very good ears.

~I cannot pass any judgement on this~ He began. ~But had this been suggested in my time, the coucil would have been in an uproar and the mortals would have suffered because of that. However, times have changed and maybe, something drastic could be welcomed. I can only speak for my snakes, but I would imagine that this generation of wolves are not only different than their predecessors, they are stronger as well. And in more ways than one~ At the council members nods, he continued. ~Then maybe, just maybe, this idea may not be so dangerous. True, it could upset the balance of power. True, it could also put these young ones in danger. But with all these new enemies that spring into their lives, they may need all the help they can get~

He paused looked every one of us in the eye, including me which I thought was strange.

~I strongly suggest that you vote on whether or not to discuss this~ He said. ~If the vote is in favor to not discuss it, dismiss it for now and find another way to help your wolves. If it is split down the middle, consult with the great spirit. That's all the advice I can give you~

After he was finished, Lord T'ist'ilal called for a vote. The vote was 4 to 2. 4 in favor of discussing it and 2 against. After they were done, Lord T'ist'ilal flapped his wings and the strangest thing happened. There were three beams of of bluish white light shining right in the center of our group. They proceeded to grow exceptinally bright before dimming themselves down and revealing three human men. Well they looked human but they were glowing with that same light that we saw before.

I recognized two out of the three with the third being a mystery yet at the same time being familiar.

'Introduce yourselves please.' Lady Winnifred said and one of them stepped forward.

"Harrison Peter Clearwater." Harry said. "Son of Peter Clearwater and Julia Littlesea. Father of Leah Susan Clearwater and Seth Harrison Clearwater."

The man I didn't recognized stepped forward.

"Joshua Johnathan Uley." He said and my eyes went wide. "Son of Charles Uley and Clara Zollanger. Father of Samuel Joshua Uley and Embry David Call."

I blinked at him. Sam's father is here? And he's Embry's dad as well? Rage surged through as I remembered that this man abandoned his family and fathered another child only to abandon him as well. I had to fight the urge to growl at him. I didn't get to do anything because the next man stepped forward and I stared at him sadly.

"Jason Cedric Matthews." He said and my eye's welled up. "Son of Katherine Uley and William Black Sr. Father of Thomas James Nakoa Matthews."

Tears fell down my cheeks. T.J's dad was here and I wouldn't be able to tell him knowing full well that he would like to see him.

'Do not despair Takoda.' Lord T'ist'ilal said. 'If everything works out, he will be able to see him.' I looked at him hopefully but he turned to address the new comers. 'Thank you for coming and welcome.'

They murmured their thanks and bowed respectfully. Lord T'iist'ilal looked at everyone including me and Lord Ezekiel.

'Brothers, sisters, friends.' He said. 'I hope all of you are comfortable, we have much to discuss.'

* * *

><p><strong>And that's a wrap! Thank you to those who stuck by me and read this story from start to finish. Let me know what you thought about the ending and such. I'll try and post the first chapter of the sequel as soon as I can. It would have been posted at the same time as this but it just wasn't in the cards. Don't worry though, it will happen.<strong>

**Happy reading,**

**-Capt Hazard.**


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